In a bid to dispel all sorts of doubts on Centre’s ire against Kerala where the BJP couldn’t win not even a single seat in the Lok Sabha elections, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said the State is as important for him as Varanasi, his constituency.
He was addressing the ‘Abhinandan Sabha’, the first-ever public meeting organised by the BJP State Committee, after he has been elected as Prime Minister for the second time, at Guruvayur on Saturday. Mr. Modi, who had dharshan at the Sree Krishna Temple, spent almost an hour inside the temple.
The Prime Minister congratulated the people for taking part in the elections, the greatest celebration of democracy.
"Many political observers must have wondered why I chose Guruvayur for the first public meeting to congratulate people, when the BJP couldn’t even open account in Kerala. There may be difference of opinion during elections. But once elected the welfare of the entire country is important for a government. So I am taking this opportunity to congratulate those who tried for the victory of the BJP and those who didn’t,” Mr. Modi said.
No one, even the surveys, political pundits or analysis could predict the people’s will correctly. But they took the decisive decision in the election. People are the gods in a democratic country, he said.
“I haven’t joined the politics to win the election. I am here to build a new country. BJP workers don’t work just for the election, they function throughout the year for the welfare of people." He reminded the BJP workers not to get affected with success or defeat. Nothing should deviate us from our goal of taking development to each and everyone in society.
Mr. Modi said Kerala has a huge employment scope in the tourism sector. “Various projects implemented by the NDA Government in the last five years has put the country in the third position in the global tourism map. The centre has allotted seven projects under Prasad scheme for Kerala,” he added.
Animal wealth is the foundation of rural economy. The Union government will implement a vaccination campaign on the lines of polio campaign to eradicate foot and mouth disease in cattle, Mr. Modi said.
The Prime Minster offered all possible support for the state to tackle the Nipah virus attack. Criticising the State government for not joining in the Ayushman Bharath Scheme, he alleged that the LDF government was denying the benefit of the scheme to the poor people.
The BJP Thrissur District chief A. Nagesh presided over. Union Minister V. Muraleedharan, BJP state President Sreedharan Pillai and other BJP leaders participated in the function.
