No need to remember candidate, vote for lotus is vote for Modi: PM

“If you see ‘kamal ka phool’ while casting your vote, understand that this is the BJP, this is Modi who has come to you. Your every vote for ‘kamal ka phool’ will come directly to Modi’s account as a blessing,” he said.

“Dilli mein Modi ho, toh yahan bhi Modi ko majbooti milni chahiye ki nahin chahiye (If Modi is in Delhi, shouldn’t Modi be strengthened here as well),” he asked the gathering, urging people to go to every household with his “pranam”.

Slamming the Congress, the main rival of the ruling BJP in the state, the Prime Minister said “several vested interests” under the previous Congress governments did not want stability in the country and the party itself never wanted stable governments in smaller states for “their own interests”.

“These selfish groups used to worry about themselves whenever they would come to power. They indulged in conspiracies to break society and the unity of the county. You should be aware of their dangerous ways,” Modi said.

He said ever since a stable BJP government has come to power at the Centre, it has been fighting against corruption, has been battling forces that work against national unity, and it has ensured peace in the North-East .

“Congress means instability, Congress means corruption, Congress means selfishness and Congress means nepotism,” he said.

Three decades of instability at the Centre, he said, destroyed the country and pushed back development.

His political attack focused on the Congress against which the BJP is fighting a fierce electoral battle to retain power in the hilly state.

“The Congress has a history of betraying the dreams of youngsters, and the farmers by not giving them the promised loan waivers. But the BJP, since it came to power at the Centre, has provided assistance to small farmers to change their lives,” he said.

In an apparent reference to the AAP, the other party in the fray, Modi, without taking its name, said, “Those who give Rs 100 discount advertise it with a cost of Rs 1000.”

The Prime Minister, the BJP’s trump card in the state where it is battling rebellion within as well as anti-incumbency, asserted that a stable “double engine government” would take the state on the path of development and progress.

Referring to past Congress governments, he said: “Small states faced the impact of the instability but now they have learned. Take the case of Uttarakhand and Goa… Now even Uttar Pradesh has returned the BJP government to power. Stable governments are responsible, accountable and do development work. Alternative governments do not work hard, because they are always under the impression that they will go out of power after one term. So, you should vote for a stable government.”

Modi recalled his stint in Himachal Pradesh for the party in the 1990s, how he used to stay in Solan rest house. He mentioned names of those who worked with him, how he enjoyed “Manoharlalji ke chane”, and chats with “chowkidars Kharak Babu and Sundar” at the rest house.

“In Israel, I was walking around, donning a Himachali cap” and said he had gifted a Kangra painting to his Nepali counterpart.