New Delhi: Putting Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the same pedestal as Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel and Dr B.R. Ambedkar, BJP president Amit Shah on Sunday said Mr Modi had begun the country’s economic integration after both the tall post-Independence leaders achieved India’s territorial and social unification.
Using the Prime Minister’s 67th birthday to heap praise on him, Mr Shah said Mr Modi’s life in many ways was a personification of India’s spirit. He also lauded Mr Modi for his pledge to fulfil Mahatma Gandhi’s dream of cleanliness by making it a mass movement.
Mr Shah wrote in his blog that India remembers Sardar Patel for the territorial integration of “our nation... and we recall the role of Babasaheb Ambedkar in our social integration. Through initiatives starting from Jan Dhan Yojana to GST, Narendra Bhai has set the ball rolling for the economic integration of India”.
He claimed Mr Modi’s sensitivity towards the aspirations of the poor had led to historic poverty alleviation initiatives, which were unheard of in India.
He said under the NDA government, honest taxpayers, a majority of whom belong to the middle class, are feeling they are valued. This had happened after crackdowns on black money and corruption through various measures, including demonetisation and the benami law.
Mr Shah said the Prime Minister was being criticised as he had ruffled several feathers by his action against the corrupt. “After all, years of privilege of a select few are now over and the poor are now getting their due.”
The Prime Minister’s heart beats for the poor, downtrodden, marginalised and the farmers, the BJP president said, adding that Mr Modi’s deep concern for their welfare had motivated him to immerse himself in nation-building from a very young age.
Recalling his long association with the Mr Modi, he said he first met Mr Modi as a young BJP worker and neither of them was drawn to power as the saffron party then was far from the force it later became.
“We will continue to serve the nation and support him (Modi) as he takes India to new heights of success and glory,” Mr Shah added.
At an event in Ranchi, Mr Shah said the Prime Minister has pledged to fulfil Mahatma Gandhi’s dream of cleanliness, and the drive has already begun in that direction. The Prime Minister believes that without the participation of people, cleanliness cannot be achieved through government programmes, he said.
Mr Modi has made cleanliness a jan andolan (people’s movement), the impact of which can be seen, Mr Shah said.
