‘2014 polls will be similar to one after Emergency’

“After the Emergency,elections were fought neither by a political party nor a leader. It was the voice of the common man. The 2014 polls will be similar,” said Modi,addressing a gathering of Overseas Friends of BJP. “This time,elections will be different. Neither a political party nor a leader is going to fight the 2014 elections. It is going to be fought by 125 crore people of India to change their fortune,” Modi said.

He criticised the UPA government and said it was shying away from showing its nine-year ‘report card’. He emphasised that the Congress will have to show its report card to the people during the Lok Sabha polls. He added that instead of showing its ‘report card’,Congress was keen on highlighting irrelevant issues like what happened in Gujarat. Modi said that he has shown his ‘report card’ to the people of Gujarat and they have elected him thrice ‘with distinction’.

Explaining BJP’s vision,Modi referred to Vajpayee’s six-year tenure at the Centre. He said that during NDA’s rule,India’s growth rate was 8.4 per cent,which has come down to 4.8 per cent during the UPA regime. He highlighted the nuclear test carried out by India under Vajpayee and added that the maximum number of youths got employment during NDA rule. “When the NDA was in power in the later half of the 20th century,it seemed the 21st century would belong to India. But with NDA’s departure and UPA’s arrival,people’s dreams were shattered,” he said. Modi said that there is a vested interest group that is working to shield the Congress by invoking irrelevant issues.

In his speech,Modi kept the focus away from himself or ‘achievements’ of the Gujarat government. In the concluding part,he said the upcoming LS elections should not be seen as an attempt to achieve a post. “Don’t see this (election) within the boundary of power and chair.”

During his speech,Modi paid homage to those killed in Saturday’s terror strike in Nairobi. Modi stressed the need for NRIs to be registered as voters. He said that only two NRIs had so far got themselves registered. “One of them is from Kutch and the other from Navsari,” Modi said.