Boycott of the great Historic occasion was shameful, more than a blunder
M Chuba Ao
BJP National Vice President
History has been made and India has now got its new Parliament Building. The big picture takeaway was Prime Minister Narendra Modi ji's message. "Our new Parliament is truly a beacon of our democracy. It reflects the nation's rich heritage and the vibrant aspirations for the future. #MyParliamentMyPride," Shri Modi ji has tweeted.
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| Chanakya in New Parliament |
Mr Modi felicitated the workers who helped in the construction and development of the new Parliament Building displaying once again how much rooted to the ground zero leader that he is. The opposition parties also did their part on the historic day.
They stayed away from the grand occasion which comes in a century or two. Political historians will remember the historic blunder by the opposition parties -- especially the Congress. The wise leaders of the grand old party should have applied a better sense of judgement and come out of their 'Hate Narendra Modi' agenda.
The boycott was a shameful move. The Congress party does not have a very good history of showing respect to constitutional offices and even the office of President of India.
Today they committed another mistake and many of their party leaders will be upset about the decision of the leadership. The inauguration of the New Parliament Building symbolises the emergence of a new dawn. But a sort of slavish mentality is unfortunately haunting the Indian National Congress.
Are they unable to come out of colonial past? Why the Swadeshi spirit disturbs them is a big puzzle for me. Why do they love to hate Indian tradition and culture? The episode related to Sengol kept in Allahabad for so long demonstrates that. The Sengol, a Chola-dynasty era spectre made of silver with a coat of gold, is a symbol of transfer of power from the British in 1947. Credit goes to respected Prime Minister that it was installed near the chair of the Lok Sabha Speaker today, May 28th.
We need not track the records of old hats in the Congress party. We may come to Gyani Zail Singh at a later stage. During the time of Dr Manmohan Singh, an Ordinance signed by the President of India was dismissed as an ordinary piece of paper by a leader called Rahul Gandhi --- who is today the face of the Indian National Congress.
It is shameful that such a man had the audacity to become President of a political party like the Congress and now he shows the audacity to question the very sanctity of a solemn occasion like the dedication of the new Parliament Building. It is their internal matter but I feel many Congress veterans including in north east India and closer home in Nagaland will not approve such a move. In short, we say, everything should not be politicised.
The Congress leaders could be reminded that once a President in office and a former Congress leader had said - "If my leader had asked me to sweep her floor I would have done so...". What was that?
In their boycott, the opposition parties have displayed a slavish mentality to continue with the British legacy. The 'New India' is not ready for that and the negative politics will be discarded. Prime Minister Modi has aptly given India a Swadeshi Parliament, and every Indian will be proud of this for generations to come.
May 28th, 2023 is thus a historic day for all Indians - rich and poor. Of course, the Prime Minister deserves congratulations for the historic steps taken by him. The opposition parties tried to stall the construction works in 2021 as well.
I will say 140 crore Indians are today with the Prime Minister.
Now I will refer to certain big and small decisions of the Modi government and these are also causes of heart burning in the opposition camp. They will be wondering why Modi is so popular? The answer is simple because our Pradhan Mantri ji delivers.
The Modi government completes nine years in office. To start with one can say India was over the decades "harmed" by the politics of low delivery and low expectations. Modi ji has changed that. The governance formula guided by 'Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas' vision of the Prime Minister lays emphasis on irreversible empowerment of
marginalised sections and poor. This has changed the perception about life and on the elements of governance from the poorer and deprived sections.
People have developed a new taste for new aspirations in New India and
people will not be happy to remain contented with the good old theory of kismat/luck.
A few days back when I spoke to a group of party Karyakartas in Meghalaya, I tried to give an example --- once a gas connection or electricity is given and toilets were constructed, people realised that none can take it away. Slowly, people developed a liking for 'more aspirations'. Slowly, people's focus shifted to education and skill development. This has been a big success area in the last nine years. And the nation salutes PM Modi for this.
Modi ji and his government have done the most to improve the lives and prospects of lakhs of ordinary Indians by giving them Mudra loans and Jan Dhan accounts. On foreign affairs front he has improved relations with the US and Japan and also the ASEAN countries. Today India matters a lot in countries like Australia and there is a small country called Papua New Guinea whose Prime Minister Mr James Marape showed a unique gesture and touched Mr Modi's feet.
This showed he trusts the friendship and knows pretty-well that Indian leadership has no self-seeking motives. I have stated in a previous piece that in terms of India-Papua New Guinea relations, we have to realise that the country is not Mauritius. The citizens of that country are 98 percent Christians and now the people are being asked whether they want the country to be officially declared "a Christian nation". Still, they love India and its Prime Minister Modi.
For our own welfare measures and developments, let us look at some of the statistics. There were 29.75 crore people benefiting under PM Suraksha Bima Yojana, 13.53 crore people benefited under PM Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana and 37 crore Ayushman Bharat health accounts.
As many as three crore people got houses under the Awas Yojana and Rs 25 lakh crore directly transferred to beneficiary bank accounts to poor Indians during the last nine years.
Under the Modi government's vision of inclusive development, the central government has undertaken many reforms to empower handicapped/Divyangjan, Transgender people and denotified and nomadic tribes. Under the Namaste scheme, the centre aims to eradicate unsafe sewer and septic tank cleaning practices
to help sanitation workers also lead a life of dignity.
An integral element of PM Modi’s government has been the effort to recognize icons of social empowerment and thus November 15 (every year) was declared Bhagwan Birsa Munda’s jayanti. This kind of recognition builds pride among tribal communities by highlighting their contribution to nation-building. This also helps ensure better national and socio-economic integration.
In 2015, a grand function was addressed by the Prime Minister in New Delhi to
mark the birth centenary of Rani Gaidinliu of Nagaland.
We may also take note that multiple global institutions like the IMF and UNDP have recognised the Modi government's support to provide welfare measures and alleviate poverty. The Global Multidimensional Poverty Index released by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative have credited India with a reduction in ten Multidimensional Poverty Indicators.
In economic governance, Modi played a reformer at the risk of facing people's anguish in elections. In 2017, he brought the GST and the issue was used by our detractors during 2017 assembly elections in Gujarat. The prominent opposition face called it the Gabbar Singh Tax. Nowhere on the globe a reform strategy has faced this kind of description. But in the process, thanks to GST, today the central government has more revenue to spend. Modi ji and his team, and I will remember Late Arun Jaitley ji, have successfully streamlined an enormously complex system of state and central tax collection earlier.
The present Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman also deserves appreciation for carrying forward the zeal since 2019. Today we have a broadened the tax base and huge amount of money lost to frauds are now a thing of the past.
Even 'Time' magazine hailed the GST as "a historic accomplishment in a country with so many development needs". Sadly, our colleagues in the opposition will not appreciate these. They oppose Modi and they will change goal posts every time. They come out with theories about Pegasus, they raise issues concerning business tycoons. In 2019, people of India rejected their allegation against Modi on the Rafale deal. Even the Supreme Court had cautioned them.
If the boycott of Parliament inauguration gives a further rise in bitterness today, it also shows the negativity in the approach of Opposition parties. They will have to shoulder the blame.
ends
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