Modi woos NRIs, blasts Singh, Govt. on 2nd day of the meet for NRIs.
By Rajiv Theodore
NEW DELHI: Thursday was a big day for BJP’s Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi at the ongoing Pravasi Bharatiya Divas, at the Vigyan Bhavan, here.
The mood was obviously on an overdrive with elections around the corner, starting in April. Modi took several jibes and swipes at Prime Minister Manmohan Singh while speaking at the function. On the other hand, he tried to woo the non-resident Indians, telling them to translate their clout in their adopted countries, harness their energies to speed up India’s development.
“Indians, especially Gujaratis, have a big presence in hotel industry abroad. If they can motivate people staying in their hotels to travel to Gujarat, India…do nothing but help send 10 people to India. It will be a huge boost to tourism,” Modi said.
Modi appealed to the 25 million Indian diaspora spread overseas to participate in the forthcoming Lok Sabha polls.
“India faces a water shed election in a few months. At this crucial juncture in our nation’s history, you too should not stay back. You must be part of the revolution taking place. Try and come back to vote at the time of elections. If that is not possible, actively engage with the political process from wherever you are; debating and brainstorming on the right path ahead with friends and family back home, as well as the nation at large. This will add to India’s strengths – its development, governance and unity,” he said.
The meet, which was kicked off by Singh on Wednesday, became a virtual war zone with the country’s two key political parties, the ruling Congress and the opposition BJP taking pot-shots at each other. Singh had earlier said that there was no reason to despair. Seeking to dispel any fears on the state of the Indian economy, he said the country was heading towards “better times”.
This particular vein was immediately taken up by Modi who mocked the former World Bank economist stating that he backed the Prime Minister for saying that good times are ahead.
Modi said it will take another few months for “good days” to usher in.
“The Prime Minister had said a good thing during his speech here yesterday, that there is no need to despair and good times are due to come,” quipped Modi. “I don’t need to say anything more… we may have to wait a few months, five or six. But I sincerely feel that good times are coming,” insinuating to the time when the BJP would form a government at the center.
Modi took this opportunity to also slam the Congress-led government.
“A government of acts rather than action has paralyzed India’s polity into one of promises over performance. Institutions have been destroyed. A misleading sense of entitlement has further highlighted the missing delivery mechanism,” he said.
Modi said the only thing holding back the nation brimming with potential and energy was the lack of good governance which “must change” and exhorted the country’s leadership to rise to the challenge and firmly place good governance and good administration on the agenda.
The Gujarat Chief Minister also spoke for NRIs per se, saying their worth was more than the remittances they send in.
“When we talk about NRIs, we think that they will bring dollars and pounds. Our Indian brothers and sisters should not be weighed in dollars and pounds,” Modi said.
He referred to past events when the support of the diaspora was critical. One was during the 1975 emergency and the second the 1998 nuclear test by the BJP-led NDA government.
“There are two events when the diaspora took a proactive role and with self-initiative stressed their Bharatiyata (Indianness),” said Modi.
“One was the 1975 Emergency, when all the Indians abroad got together and pushed for democracy. The second was the nuclear test by Vajpayeeji (Atal Bihari Vajpayee),” he said, adding that all the Indian diaspora had put their weight behind India to support the move and against the sanctions imposed by the US.
Citing these two incidents as stand out symbols of participation of the Indian diaspora, Modi continued to up his ante against the government.
“Morality has been thrown out of governance, with trust being the biggest victim. A government of acts rather than action has paralyzed India’s polity into one of promises over performance. Institutions have been destroyed. A misleading sense of entitlement has further highlighted the missing delivery mechanism,” Modi said.
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