Development politics need of the hour, says Modi

Pitching himself as a national leader, Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi is now trying to reach out to the people outside his own state, especially youngsters.

“Political parties and a section of people in the country only think of youngsters as new age voters. Youth should be seen as new age power,” he said while delivering the annual Shri Ram Memorial Oration at Shri Ram College of Commerce (SRCC).

Development politics is the need of the hour, but some political parties are only interested in vote bank politics, said Modi.

This is the first time that Modi has stepped out of Gujarat to address an audience in Delhi. Although senior leaders of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have maintained that the selection of party’s prime ministerial candidate will be made by the parliamentary board, the four-time Gujarat CM has declared that he is among the strongest contenders.

Talking about his Gujarat model of development that focuses on development politics, Modi said that there was an air of despair in the country due to lack of good governance. People have started to believe that nothing will change because everybody is corrupt, he added.

“I am an optimist. I don’t believe that glass is either half full or half empty. I think glass is half filled with water and half with air. I am chief minister for a fourth term and based on my experience, with the same law, same Constitution, same rules and regulations, same officers, same people, same files, we can move forward. We can do a lot. I am confident that we can change things,” Modi said.

The Gujarat CM argued that even after six decades of Independence, India was yet to achieve Swaraj, which was Mahatma Gandhi’s dream. “By Swaraj, I mean good governance. And by good governance, I mean P2G2 – proactive-people, good governance,” said Modi.

His hour-long speech was mixed with humour. After speaking for a little over 30 minutes, Modi asked the students if he was taking too much of their time and whether they would want him to continue the speech. The packed auditorium with several hundred students immediately asked him to go on with the speech. But the atmosphere outside the college was different as policemen with teargas and sticks were trying to control protesters who wanted Modi to go back.