Ghaziabad, Oct 7 (IANS): Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Wednesday hailed Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s 25 years in public service, stating that for PM Modi, politics is not about forming the government but rather about “nation building”.
The Defence Minister made the remarks while addressing the ‘Viksit Bharat Sankalp Sabha’ in Uttar Pradesh’s Ghaziabad.
“For PM Modi, the meaning of politics was that politics should not be pursued merely to form a government. Rather, politics should be pursued to build the nation and to build society,” he said.
He added, “Before Modi ji came to power, the word politics had lost its meaning and essence. Over the last 12 years, the way PM Modi has given it all to serve the people, he has proven that politics is not just a medium to form the government, rather it is a medium to build the nation.”
Rajnath Singh further said: “You will not find any Prime Minister in the world who has not taken a few days off within a year or two or has not gone on a picnic with his family…I have known Prime Minister Modi for the last 25 years, and I can say with confidence that during these years, whether as Chief Minister or Prime Minister, he has not taken a single day off or stopped working for even a single day. This is his greatest quality.”
“I believe that the country needs this kind of a leader today because we intend to transform India into a developed nation, ‘Viksit Bharat’ by 2047,” he asserted.
Singh underlined that India has undergone a massive economic growth in the past 12 years. “Earlier, India used to be at 11th or 12th position in the world. But under Prime Minister Modi’s leadership, India today stands among the top five economies of the world,” he said.
“I believe that under PM Modi’s leadership, the country will soon be counted among the top three economies of the world,” he added.
Pointing to the global economic crisis resulting from the West Asia conflict, the Defence Minister emphasised that the BJP-led government did not allow the country’s economic growth to slow down even during this period.
“While the economies of the major countries and major powers of the world are growing at rates of 2 per cent, 1.5 per cent and 3 per cent, even after such a major crisis emerged globally, India’s economy is still growing at a rate of 7.8 per cent. This is not an ordinary achievement. I believe this is a remarkable feat in itself,” he said.
He further said that earlier, India was not taken seriously on international platforms, “but today if India says something, the world carefully notes what we have to say”.
“Earlier, small nations, including India, were afraid of hurting powerful nations, but PM Modi never stressed about such things and instead focused on doing whatever it takes for the development of the country,” he added.
He asserted that despite being in power for the last 25 years, “no one can accuse PM Modi of indulging in corruption”.
In a veiled dig at the Opposition, he said: “Today, many political parties are turning non-issues into issues, lying down on the streets, to confuse the people and subsequently gain support.”
He asked the Opposition to speak on facts while stating, “Even if we commit any mistakes, we will apologise to the people.”
