Modi gave India a ‘rising power’ mindset: BJP National VP

DIMAPUR, JUNE 6 (MExN): National Vice President of the BJP, M Chuba Ao today stated that Prime Minister Narendra Modi gave Indian a “rising power” mindset, and added that the North East is now a “growth engine.”

A press release from the Ao said that in terms of achievements, India climbed up six places in the World Bank’s Logistic Performance Index 2023, as investments in soft and hard infrastructure as well as technology helped the country improve its port performance. India is now ranked 38 in the 139 countries index, up from 44 in 2018, he said. 

Ao said that India’s target is to be among the top 25 countries by 2030. Another big achievement, he said has been that India has “leapfrogged towards becoming a global leader in digital payments, thanks to a government-backed payment system.”  

He meanwhile claimed that “the murky deals have vanished and wherever the wrongdoers exist, the law is taking its course.” “For the first time in the history of India, ministers are compelled to walk inside jails. Repeated court directives and denial of bails by the wrongdoers make it clear that the law enforcing agencies and anti-corruption wings like the Enforcement Directorate and CBI are doing their jobs pretty well,” he said.

He also pointed out that India has emerged as the fifth largest economy in the world, and termed it as a “moment of glory for an emerging market country to beat an economic power like the UK.”

The National BJP Vice President said that as many as 3.5 Crore pucca houses have been constructed for the country’s poor.  The large-scale construction of toilets across the country was another milestone, he said.

He added that the Indian farmer is now confidently eyeing the world as a marketplace for its wide-ranging products. Products from Nagaland, Tripura and Meghalaya are now much sought after in western countries, Ao stated, adding that the Prime Minister has taken personal interest to tweet about Bhoot Jhalokia from Nagaland. “Northeast India is no longer isolated, it is a growth engine and can do better always if we can ensure peace and political stability,” he said. 

Other achievements he spoke about included the declaration of Bamboo as grass; extending income support with PM Kisan with an assured cash transfer of Rs 6,000 per year through Direct Benefit Transfer; the telecom revolution-2; the Unified Payment Interface (UPI); and the CoWin Vaccination Platform.  

“The governance formula guided by ‘Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas’ focused on irreversible empowerment of marginalised sections. This changed the perception about life and expectancy on governance by the poor who were hitherto depending only on their fortunes,” Ao said.

“Slowly, people also developed a taste for higher and more aspirations. Focus shifted to education and skill development. This has been a big success area in the last nine years,” he stated.

“Under Congress, people got small benefits periodically and kept on depending on the political largesse. The ‘piecemeal’ varieties of the development and empowerment kept people ‘dependent’ and thus irreversible empowerment was denied,” Ao said. He however added that under the present government, schemes like Jan Dhan, Mudra Yojana and StartUp India and Skill India “empowered individuals on a long-term perspective”. 

He informed that 29.75 crore people are benefitting under PM Suraksha Bima Yojana, 13.53 crore people benefited under PM Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana and 37 crore  from Ayushman Bharat health accounts. He added that during the last nine years, 3 crore people got houses under Awas Yojana and Rs 25 lakh crore was directly transferred to beneficiary bank accounts.

The Central Government, he said, has also undertaken many reforms to empower Divyangjan, transgender people and denotified nomadic tribes. Under the Namaste scheme, the centre seeks to eradicate unsafe sewer and septic tank cleaning practices to help sanitation workers also lead a life of dignity, he said. 

Meanwhile, Ao criticized Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s “repeated anti-India utterances during his overseas trips.” He alleged that Gandhi has “especially organised ‘anti-India’ crowd and then seeks to embarrass the government and the country.” He further claimed that “recently it has come to light that some organisations and individuals Rahul Gandhi associates himself during trip abroad have questionable credentials.”

He further claimed that “there was an undisclosed MoU between Congress party and the Chinese Communists leadership in 2008,” and questioned whether Indian agencies should get back into action to find “whether some political elements in India are already working at the behest of some ‘forces’ which are friendly to China-Pakistan axis.”