Andalib Akhter / New Delhi
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said that all the sections of society including youth, women, the middle class, Dalits, and the deprived have full faith in the National Democratic Alliance- NDA.
He said, the three letters of NDA mean- N for New India, D means a Developed Nation and A stands for Aspiration of people. Mr Modi said that NDA has completed 25 years of its journey and the Nation is working to achieve the target of the next 25 years to become a developed and self-reliant country. The Prime Minister was addressing NDA leaders who participated in the meeting held in New Delhi today. Mr Modi added that NDA is committed to the Nation as well as its people and its ideology is Nation First, Security of nation first, Progress First, and Empowerment of people first.
He added that NDA was not formed in opposition to any party but was formed to bring stability to the country. He added that when a country has a stable government, the country makes a bold decision that changes the course of the country. The Prime Minister highlighted that NDA is not the symbol of coalition and compulsion but the symbol of coalition and contribution. He mentioned that in NDA, no party is small or big and we all are walking together towards the same goal.
Hitting out at the opposition, the Prime Minister said that in politics, there can be competitiveness but not enmity and unfortunately, today opposition has made it its identity to abuse us. He said, we always kept India above all political interests. He highlighted that it is the NDA government that conferred Bharat Ratna on former President Pranab Mukherjee and Padma award on leaders including Sharad Pawar, Mulayam Singh Yadav, and Ghulam Nabi Azad, and many other leaders who were not with BJP-led NDA.
On the issue of empowerment of the people, Prime Minister Modi said that no stone was left unturned to empower the people and as a result, around 13.5 crore people were lifted out of poverty after 2015-16 as per the Niti Aayog report. Referring to the World Bank report, the Prime Minister said that around 40 crore people defeated poverty in a short span of time and as per the International Monetry Fund, extreme poverty is on the verge of being wiped out from India.
In his address, the Prime Minister said that in 2014 Indian economy was at 10th position in the world and now it is at 5th position. He assured the NDA members that in the third term of NDA, the Indian economy will be the third largest economy in the world.
Speaking about NDA’s performance in elections, the Prime Minister mentioned that NDA’s vote share was 38 percent in 2014 and 45 per cent in 2019. He said, in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, NDA’s vote share will be above 50 percent because of its allies who are working hard.
As many as 38 political parties attended the NDA meeting held in New Delhi. BJP President J P Nadda, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Ministers Amit Shah, Rajnath Singh, and Nitin Gadkari were among those who attended the meeting. At the meeting venue, Mr Modi was garlanded by NDA leaders. NDA allies including AIADMK, Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena, LJP(Ram Vilas), Hindustani Awam Morcha, NCP faction led by Ajit Pawar and Apna Dal (Sonelal) participated in the meeting.
Ahead of the meeting, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that it is a matter of immense joy that our valued NDA partners from across India will be attending the meeting in Delhi . In a tweet, Mr Modi said that ours is a time-tested alliance that seeks to further national progress and fulfill regional aspirations.