Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, while summarising his 11 years in power, left out a crucial chapter of the Sadbhavna mission that he had launched last year on his birthday. The Sadbhavna mission was launched by Modi to promote peace, harmony and brotherhood in the state. The initiative was termed by political analysts as an image makeover initiative of the chief minister.
On October 7, Modi completed 11 years in power and became the longest serving chief minister in history of Gujarat.
Summarising his journey over the last decade, Modi wrote on his official blog, "This 11-year journey devoted in service of the people of Gujarat has been memorable and extremely satisfying. It has been a learning experience for me that I tremendously cherish. Today, Gujarat has become synonymous with progress and with our Mantra of ‘Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas’ we have come out with a model of development that has touched the lives of each and every citizen."
However, in his long summary of 11 years at the helm of power, Modi was silent on the Sadbhavna mission which he had launched soon after the Supreme Court verdict in Gulbarga Society riot case in September 2011. Modi had undertaken a three-day fast for peace, harmony and unity in his state. This was followed by 36 one-day fasts in all districts of the state.
"Sadbhavana Mission has reflected the inner strength of our social fabric and touched the hearts of people in every nook and corner of Gujarat. It is this energy of six crore Gujaratis which has been the vital force behind Sadbhavana Mission. It gives me immense satisfaction to see that my effort to show the nation and world the strength of Sadbhavana Mission has been successful," Modi had said concluding the mission at Ambaji in February 2012.
On Modi leaving out Sadbhavna Mission from his long list of initiatives, Congress said that this was nothing new for the chief minister. "Modi has been indulging in gimmicks like the Sadbhavna mission eversince he came to power. It was the encounters in 2007, then the Sadbhavna and now it is the development," Gujarat Congress spokesperson Manish Doshi said. "Now, that we have busted the myth about Modi's development, he could resort to any gimmick to retain power at any cost," he claimed.
Describing his stint as chief minister on his blog Modi talked about the time he assumed office post the massive earthquake in Kutch in October 2001, and how the state evolved under his leadership over the next decade. He listed various initiatives of his government which include uninterrupted power supply to rural areas from Jyotirgram Yogna, schemes for primary education, especially of girl child, school enrolment drive, water and sanitation programmes, health projects like the chiranjeevi yojna for improving maternal and infant mortality, the Nari Gaurav Niti for women's empowerment and the mission mangalam for the women self-help groups.
He also talked about his poverty eradication initiative Garib Kalyan Melas under which over 85 lakh poor beneficiaries have received assistance worth Rs. 13,000 crore, and decentralisation of administration through Jan Seva Kendras at taluka levels.
"Through these initiatives I am trying to encapsulate the unique journey of development that we have adopted for 11 years. I always say that our sole agenda is development and it will continue to be so in the future. In the last 11 years we have achieved a lot but there is a lot more we are yet to achieve and I am sure in the coming years with your support we will create a Gujarat that is both bhavya (excellent) and divya (divine)," Modi stated.
"And finally I bow to the spirit of the 6 crore people of Gujarat. It is your love and affection that keeps me going, inspires me to work even harder and scale newer and newer heights of progress. I consider myself extremely blessed that I have got this opportunity to work for you!" he said thanking the people of the state.