New Delhi : Prime Minister Narendra Modi Wednesday said the huge turnout at his election rally here — his last before the Delhi assembly polls Saturday — was a clear indication of “the direction the wind is blowing” and appealed to voters to bring a stable BJP government in Delhi.
He also took a dig at surveys ahead of the Feb 7 polls that predicted the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) having an advantage.
Addressing a rally in south Delhi’s Ambedkar Nagar, Modi said for a strong nation it was necessary to have a strong BJP government and appealed to voters not to give an “unstable” government to Delhi.
“I am seeing the huge crowd here. It is much bigger than when I would address rallies ahead of the general election. It gives an indication of the direction the wind is blowing,” he said.
He urged the people to vote in the BJP with full majority in Delhi.
“Don’t bring in an unstable government. It is the country’s capital. Its fate should not be left hanging. Please vote for progress, vote for the BJP,” he said.
Modi said his aim was to bring development to the country and bring change to the lives of the poor in Delhi.
He said the “entire world now considers India as an important force and it is happening because of your votes that brought the BJP with majority to the Centre”.
Taking a dig at the opposition parties, he said his opponents are troubled by him, because “they are not able to digest how Modi, a poor man, has come to be the prime minister”.
He said in the last Lok Sabha election, surveys said he would lose by three lakh votes in Varanasi, but he won.
He said under the leadership of Kiran Bedi, who has been named the Bharatiya Janata Party’s chief ministerial candidate, the party will begin development of Delhi.
“We are not going to stop for a single moment because, we have to clear up the mess of the last 16 years in the next five years,” Modi said, adding that the goal of his politics is development.
“Development to bring a change in the lives of the poor,” Modi said, adding that the BJP would ensure education for the children of the poor, medical care for the aged and also “pucca” houses in place of shanties with electricity, water and toilets.
Modi also defended the BJP over the “typographical error” of describing northeastern people as “immigrants” in the party Vision Document and decried attempts to rake up the issue for political mileage.
“Attempts are being made to provoke people from the northeast … a mistake was made and the party accepted it,” Modi said at the rally.
“No one should play with the unity of the country for political benefits. Brothers should not be pitted against brothers,” the prime minister.
Modi said he has visited the northeastern states many times and the BJP government would develop the region “more than what has happened in the past 60 years”.
In her speech, Bedi said if she became the chief minister, her first priority would be to develop the city’s slum clusters and improve the quality of life of the people living there.