Don’t need to sound election bugle, people do it for me: PM Modi

The dreams of the poor, farmers, women and youth, he said, are the same in every society. Due to the efforts of the government, 25 crore people, he said, were brought out of poverty in the last 10 years.

“I saw some media reports saying that Modi will sound the election bugle today. Modi only sounds the bugle of vikas (development), Modi sounds the bugle for the welfare of the last person in the line. Modi did not sound the poll bugle earlier nor does he need it now and will not need it in the future. The janata janardan (people) keep doing it for him. When people sound the bugle for him, Modi does not need to spend time on it, he spends time serving the people,” he said.

At the gathering, where regional leaders and BJP workers hailed the consecration ceremony of the Ram temple in Ayodhya, raised Jai Shri Ram slogans and DJs played songs on Lord Ram, Modi referred to the Pran Pratishtha ceremony on January 22 and the contribution of former Uttar Pradesh CM Kalyan Singh to the temple cause – the late leader was from western UP and he was Chief Minister when the Babri Masjid was razed on December 6, 1992.

“This region gave a son like Kalyan Singh to the nation who dedicated his life to both Ram Kaaj and Rashtra Kaaj (Ram’s work and nation’s work). Where he is today, he must be very happy seeing Ayodhya Dham. The country has fulfilled the dream of Kalyan Singh and many people like him,” he said.

After the consecration ceremony of the Ram temple in Ayodhya, it is time, he said, to elevate the prestige of the nation. “We have to further strengthen the country through ‘Dev se Desh’ and ‘Ram se Rashtra’,” he said.

The PM dedicated development projects to the nation across sectors like railways, road, oil and gas and housing.

These include the 173-km double line electrified section between New Khurja and New Rewari on the Dedicated Freight Corridor (DFC), four-laning of the highway from Aligarh to Bhadwas, widening of the Meerut to Karnal border road via Shamli and Indian Oil’s Tundla-Gawaria pipeline.

The development of the nation, he said, was not possible without the development of UP. “After independence, a large part of the country was deprived of development. Uttar Pradesh, with the largest population of the country, was not given much attention. Those in the government for a long time behaved like rulers. People were kept in poverty and they (the rulers) found the path of division in society to be the easiest means of gaining power. Many generations in UP have paid the price,” he said.

“I am an MP from UP and it is my responsibility to take this state forward. The formation of the BJP government in 2017, leading to the double-engine government, has given a new impetus to development. Work is going on two big defence corridors in India, one of which is in western UP,” he said.

Operations of India’s first Namo Bharat train have started from the state, different cities are being connected to the Metro and the region will gain “new strength, power and new heights” when the Jewar airport becomes operational. “…UP is becoming one of the main centres of employment. The Central government is working on developing four new industrial cities. Because of bad connectivity earlier, farmer produce did not reach markets on time…,” Modi said.