Gujarat: Development must be top priority of elected members in democracy, says PM Modi at Panchayat Mahasammelan

Ahmedabad: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday attributed the BJP’s impressive performance in four state polls, including in the politically important Uttar Pradesh, to people voting for development, which he stressed, should be the top priority of elected representatives in a democracy. On a visit to Gujarat a day after the BJP stormed back to power in four of the five states where Assembly polls were held recently, Modi addressed over one lakh representatives from the three tiers of the panchayati raj institutions in the state at the ‘Panchayat Mahasammelan’. Referring to the voters of those states, Modi said people have now realised that governments are elected for doing development. “Democracy has its own power. Just yesterday, thanks to that power of democracy, we were able to form government in four states where the party in power have never formed government for a second consecutive term in the past. Now, people have realised that in a democracy, development should be the priority of elected representatives,” said Modi in his address at the conference. Beating back a resurgent rainbow coalition led by the Samajwadi Party, the BJP on Thursday stormed back to power in Uttar Pradesh, and also emerged victorious in Uttarakhand, Manipur and Goa, overcoming anti-incumbency in these states. The Arvind Kejriwal’s AAP scripted a stellar victory in Punjab, winning a three-fourth majority pulverising its rivals. The prime minister’s home state of Gujarat is due for elections later this year. Modi, who is on a two-day Gujarat visit, invoked Mahatma Gandhi and Sardar Patel during his speech and said the Father of the Nation’s dream of rural development and gram swaraj should be fulfilled as India celebrates 75 years of Independence. Villages need to be self-reliant and strong, Modi said and advised their representatives set goals for overall development of rural centres. “Gujarat is the land of Bapu (Mahatma Gandhi) and Sardar Patel. Bapu always talked about rural development, self-reliant and strong villages. Today, as we are marking ‘Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav’, we must fulfil Bapu’s dream of rural development,” Modi said. He maintained that a robust panchayati raj infrastructure was key to fulfilling the dream of gram swaraj. All panchayat members and sarpanches are working towards achieving that objective. The mega conclave was attended by sarpanches and other elected representatives of gram panchayats, taluka panchayats and district panchayats of the state. As India is celebrating ‘Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav’, an initiative of the Centre to celebrate and commemorate 75 years of Independence, the prime minister gave several tasks to the elected representatives gathered at the event. One of the tasks was to celebrate the foundation day or “birthday” of the school in the village so that the next generation understands the importance of education, he said. “The Amrit Mahotsav will continue till August 2023. Till that time, each village can organise at least 75 programmes wherein villagers move in the village with the tricolour in the morning and narrate stories of our freedom fighters such as Bhagat Singh and Veer Savarkar,” suggested the prime minister. He urged the elected representatives to create a mini forest of 75 trees in each village to celebrate 75 years of Independence. “I also want you to encourage at least 75 farmers in each village to take up natural farming. These 75 farmers must stop the use of harmful chemicals. This land is our mother and we must free her from these toxic chemicals. Natural farming will not only save money, but also preserve our land,” said the PM. Recalling his days as the chief minister of Gujarat, Modi said his government had started a project of building one lakh bori-bandh or check dams using gunny bags filled with clay to recharge groundwater. The prime minister urged the Panchayat members to build such cost-effective check dams in their villages to collect and store rainwater. Modi advised the elected panchayat members to ensure that all cattle in their villages get the centrally-sponsored vaccine for the foot and mouth disease, a severe and highly contagious viral disease of livestock. The prime minister urged them to start using LED bulbs on a large scale, regularly visit schools and anganwadis (child care centres) to check the status of education and other facilities, and ensure no student leaves studies midway. Cautioning against the practice of “Sarpanch Pati”, wherein the husbands of women sarpanches run the show, Modi urged all such elected women at the village level to keep the reins in their hands. Earlier in the day, Modi held a roadshow that started from the Ahmedabad airport and ended at the Gujarat BJP headquarters in Gandhinagar. Read all the Latest News , Trending News , Cricket News , Bollywood News , India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.