2014 Lok Sabha polls will change India's future: Modi to NRIs

BJP Prime Ministerial nominee Narendra Modi addressed US supporters via video conference link early on Sunday morning, and said that the Congress led UPA government had led India down a path of regression, undoing all the good work done under Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s NDA government. “Under the NDA, not only Indians but people all over the world believed that the 21st century was India’s time to shine. This dream soon came to an end after Atal ji’s term ended. Instead of going ahead, we regressed and sank down. Any Indian anywhere across the world felt that pain”, he said. [caption id=“attachment_1125713” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] AFP[/caption] Modi also praised the various BJP led state governments, saying that given the opportunity, BJP leadership has always delivered in its responsibilities. He praised various BJP state ministers including Parrikar in Goa, Raman Singh in Chhattisgarh and Shivraj Singh Chouhan in Madhya Pradesh. He also said that the people of Rajasthan were still grateful to Vasundhara Scindia because of her good work in the state, and also credited Sushil Modi for helping Bihar to flourish ‘in the departments under his charge’. There was unsurprisingly no mention of JD(U) leader Nitish Kumar and his work in Bihar. “India has seen how the Congress and BJP work in some states. Time demands that governance is compared and it will be evident that BJP governance will come out above all”, he said. Speaking of the upcoming 2014 Lok Sabha elections, Modi said that 2014 was not just an election being contested by a particular party or leader, but a poll in which all of India would contest to change its very future. “There is a lot of hue and cry about who will become the PM. But 2014 isn’t an election that a particular party or leader is contesting - the population of India is contesting to change its future. India’s farmer, youth, poor, hungry are fighting for a better future - that’s the real fight”, he said. Having said that however, he thanked the people of India for its faith in him, saying that it was only because of them that he had this opportunity to work for them. The BJP leader also exhorted Indian passport holders living in the US to register as voters and help bring about change. He also mentioned the Nairobi attacks and expressed his condolences for the Indian lives - and especially the Gujarati lives- that had been lost as a result.