BJP’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi on Sunday termed the presence of thousands of tea vendors at his mega rally here as “winds of change.”
“I was reading that tea vendors have been given special pass. The winds of change have begun. In the days to come, the common man is going to become a VIP,” Mr. Modi said, at the ‘Mahagarjana’ rally, organised by BJP in suburban Bandra.
Around 10,000 tea vendors were among those specially invited for the rally.
“Somebody from the Samajwadi Party said Mr. Modi was a tea vendor and a tea vendor cannot become the Prime Minister. And Modiji had replied, ‘Desh bechne walo se chai bechne wale achchey hote hain’ (those who sell tea are better than those who sell the country),” Maharashtra BJP unit president Devendra Fadnavis said.
“That created a sense of pride amongst the tea vendors of Mumbai and they contacted us and we said ‘Yes, you come. We will give you a place to sit’,” Mr. Fadnavis said.
Mr. Modi also dwelt on the youth power to transform the country. “If a country has such youth power, what is it that it cannot do. The youth should get jobs and a chance to earn livelihood with honour. The mantra should be ‘shramev jayate’ ,” he said.
Bemoaning the decision to scrap IMS Vikrant, Mr. Modi said, “the government is planning to break it (decommissioned aircraft carrier) and we are collecting metal pieces for ’Statue of Unity’ We are trying to relive our heritage, and this government is out to make pieces of our heritage.”
A film university should have been set up to mark 100 years of film industry, but the government lost the chance, Mr. Modi said.
