Hitting out at Opposition parties, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday said some political parties believe that their ideology is incomplete if they didn’t “abuse” Gujarat and asked people of Gujarat to be warned against those trying to spread despair in the state. Addressing a public meeting in Junagadh after launching projects worth Rs 4,155 crore in Junagadh, Gir Somnath and Porbandar districts, Modi said even though Gujarat is providing employment to people from across the country, some political parties continue to “abuse” and “defame” the state. “Shouldn’t Gujarat give out a warning?. Gujaratis work hard and provide employment to people from the entire country. Can Gujarat be defamed in such a manner?. This land will not tolerate insult of Gujarat and Gujaratis,” Modi said. On political parties who finding only faults with Gujarat, Modi said, “You note their vikruti (perversion). For the past two decades, those who only find faults and those with perversive mentality. if something good happens in Gujarat. They use all sorts of language to insult Gujarat.” In the run up to the Assembly elections later this year, the BJP government in the state has been highlighting “20 years of good governance”, even though the BJP has been ruling the state for the past 27 years. Modi became Gujarat chief minister in 2001 and held the post till 2014 when he was elected PM. Modi said that insult of not only Gujarat or Gujarati but of anyone should not be tolerated in the country. “Bengalis should not be insulted nor should Tamils or a man from Kerala. Hard work, achievements, exploits of every citizen of this country should be a matter of pride for all of us,” the PM said. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), which has been campaigning aggressively in the state, has been alleging that only BJP leaders, their families and their associates have become rich during the party’s 27-year rule while people of the state are struggling to provide good education to their children. Addressing another public meeting in Rajkot in the evening after launching projects worth over Rs 6,681 crore, Modi referred to Congress slogan of “garibi hatao (eradicate poverty) and “roti-kapda (food and clothes)” in the 1970s and claimed those who gave such slogans actually did nothing for the poor. The PM said that since he took over as PM in 2014, the government has constructed three crore houses for the poor, including eight lakh in Gujarat alone, of which seven lakh have been allotted to beneficiaries. “These people came into politics and built palaces for themselves but didn’t think about the poor living in huts. I have launched a campaign to provide pucca houses to the poor living in huts.” “There was a time when MLAs would submit memorandum to chief minister. There was a time when people had to plead for a handpump but your son is today supplying water to every household through taps,” said Modi to the Junagadh audience. In Rajkot, he spoke about how his victory in his maiden Assembly election from the city in 2001 shaped his political future.
