Union Home Minister Amit Shah Saturday said the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government in the Centre has never engaged in vote bank politics. He added that all decisions taken by the Modi government are directed towards larger public welfare. Shah was addressing an event organised by the Lokmat Media Group in Nagpur to celebrate the birth centenary of founder editor and freedom fighter Jawaharlal Darda, popularly known as Babuji, and the golden jubilee of its Marathi newspaper's Nagpur edition. Shah, who is on a three-day Maharashtra tour, arrived in Nagpur Friday evening. Shah emphasised, "We don't do vote bank politics. You will never see the Modi government taking decisions which people like. It takes decisions that are good for the people. It is easy to take populist decisions to please people but taking tough decisions keeping the overall well-being of the people in mind is challenging.” He added, “The Azadi Ka Amrut Mahotsav, which celebrates 75 years of India's Independence, is no more just a government event. Instead, it has become a celebration where the 130 crore people of the country will participate. It outlines the glorious past, freedom movement and post-Independence achievements which will become an inspiration for the upcoming generations. The PM has already unveiled his vision on how India will look and where it will be as we move ahead from 75 years to 100 years.” Listing out the achievements, Shah said, “Almost in all core areas, from defence and space to manufacturing, we have made rapid progress. Make In India is a reality now. With technology, we are now bringing in transformation in the rural areas to uplift the lives of the villagers. The scientific researches and breakthroughs in the space sector have seen considerable advancement.” The Union Home Minister also said that during the Covid-19 pandemic, the world acknowledged Modi’s leadership for vaccination drives and its effective implementation. “The Centre provided free food to 80 crore people for two years. The scheme is still being implemented. We became self-reliant on oxygen within a short time,” Shah said. According to Shah, "When Article 370 was abrogated, experts had cautioned that there would be bloodshed in Kashmir. But forget bloodshed, there are no stone pelting instances. In the last three years, 1.8 crore tourists visited Kashmir.” He added, “Instances of insurgency in the North East states have come to an end. The violence in the Naxal belt has considerably reduced to 90 per cent. Almost 8,000 youths associated with a movement have given up the arms struggle and have returned to the mainstream. The pace at which the country is marching ahead, we will soon become a global leader in every key sector.” “The concept of sankalp se siddhi tak is to engage every individual. Even a small decision is important,” he added. Earlier, on Friday, Shah attended a musical fountain show at Futala lake in Nagpur. On Saturday morning, he paid a visit to the Hedgewar Smruti Mandir at Reshimbaug. He offered floral tributes at the Memorial of RSS founder Dr B K Hedgewar and RSS ideologue M S Golwalkar. Earlier on Saturday, Shah visited Deekshabhoomi and offered tributes to Dr B R Ambedkar. Deekshabhoomi is a place where Ambedkar, with lakhs of followers, had adopted Buddhism in 1956.
