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Sharpening his attack on the Congress-led UPA government, BJP's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi on Sunday said that it was time that Union government become answerable to the people of India.
He said that the 2014 general elections will not be driven by manifestos of political parties but by aspirations of people themselves. It would be about dreams of the people, to wipe the tears of the poor and to work for the welfare of our farmers, the marginalised and tribal communities, he added.
Remembering the NDA rule as golden period for India in the 21st century, the Gujarat chief minister called for uprooting of UPA government and urged people to work towards a progressive BJP government in 2014.
Modi was speaking to Indian diaspora in Florida US during the Annual National Convention of the USA Overseas Friends of BJP (OFBJP) via video conference.
“Every government must tell the people what they have done for it. Shivrajji is going to the villages telling people (about what he has done). Dr Raman Singhji is covering the length and breadth of Chhattisgarh. But see the arrogance of the government (UPA) in Delhi. They are in power for nine years, but is even one of their leaders ready to tell the people what their government has done?” Modi questioned.
He further said, “As soon as I will finish my speech they will start saying Modi said this and this is what is happening in Gujarat but, I (Modi) have given answers to the people in December 2012 and the people chose the BJP to serve them.”
"Only the BJP can save the country from the current crisis. There is hope and aspiration for BJP. This is because, whenever any BJP member is given any responsibility, they give their best," Modi claimed. He praised the leadership of L K Advani, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan. "BJP governments are remembered in Goa, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka," he added.
He added that it was during the NDA era that the world saw India as a nation which could scale new heights during the 21st century but that dream was shattered after the NDA lost office. Modi pointed that in the last nine years the nation has moved backwards, which makes it natural for any citizen to feel concerned.
Praising the BJP cadre, party's prime ministerial candidate said, “Parties took decades to win power but BJP got the opportunity to serve the people in years of its formation. To win the trust of the people is not a small thing and the BJP won the people’s trust due to their karyakartas (workers). The nation did not know how we would work but they knew that our workers will serve.” He assured that if there is one party that can save India of all its current problems, it was the BJP.
Drawing a comparison to the first general elections post-emergency in 1977, Modi said, "The elections after the emergency were not fought by leaders of parties. Neither did papers ad pundits influence them. It was the people’s voice. Like 1977, 2014 will be the voice of the people.”
“Lok Sabha polls of 2014 is not being fought by any leader or any party but it is being fought by the people for their rights and dreams. This election will be about the manifesto of the people who want peace and prosperity not the manifesto of parties,” Modi explained.
Modi also attacked the vested interest groups that have spread canards about Gujarat. He pointed, “There was a terrible calamity in Uttarakhand. People from all states lost their lives. The same happened during the Gujarat Earthquake but did you see the coverage of the two instances then and now? This is because there is a vested interest group that is shielding the Congress. This vested interest group is active and come 2014 we have to fight both the Congress and this vested interest group. The fight is no doubt big but the dreams of our people are bigger.”
Gujarat chief minister also condemned the attack at a mall in Nairobi, Kenya, where several people including Indians lost their lives.
