Two decades of Narendra Modi in public office has unleashed might of a billion aspirations

Leaders and governments often use slogans to define priorities and agenda. Slogans like Hum Do Hamare Do and Beti Padhao Beti Bachao have worked to spearheaded mission campaigns for spreading awareness about voluntary population control and educating the girl child. But rarely does a single slogan encompass within it a complete agenda of governance. Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, Sabka Vishwas, Narendra Modi’s slogan, seeks to achieve this. A powerful mantra, this puts into practice the commitment of development and governance for all. The Modi model of governance first captivated the people of Gujarat and then the country, as he conceptualised and launched innovative development schemes as the chief minister of the state. Gujarat under him was recognized as a remarkable engine of growth and a vibrant economic powerhouse. His leadership and corruption free government stood in sharp contrast to the dithering and scam-ridden Congress-led UPA government at the centre. India was seeking change and in 2014 Narendra Modi was seen as the only alternative to lead the country out of economic drift and the wasted decade of what was recognized as UPA misgovernance. As the  Pradhan Sewak  of the world’s largest democracy, he was confronted with the daunting challenge of solving a host of problems inherited from previous establishments. Over the first five years, Modi worked furiously towards solving them. He lay the groundwork for making India a $5 trillion economy. Several initiatives become world records in themselves – financial inclusion of over 400 million people through the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY); electrification, within 1000 days for 17,000 villages that hadn’t seen a light bulb in 70 years; making India free of open defecation through the  Swachh Bharat Abhiyan ; achieving the implementation of the One Nation One Tax policy through GST in 2017, delivering benefits of several hundred schemes directly to the bank accounts of beneficiaries through JAM (PMJDY-Aadhar-Mobile) and speeding up infrastructure development. He also worked single mindedly worked to cut out red tape and obsolete laws in order to improve the ease of doing business in the country.  Ayushman Bharat  launched healthcare for all. The government worked to provide free gas connections to millions of women though Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana. Digital connectivity was speeded up to the last mile and front ending digital payment platforms were put in place. It is no mean achievement that today close to three billion digital payment transactions, worth over five trillion Indian rupees, are taking place. Simultaneously, there was an urgent need to reboot India’s global image and foreign policy to secure the country’s strategic imperatives and also attract foreign investment. This too has been a priority for Prime Minister Modi. Leading from the front, he reinvigorated strategic relationships and built personal equations to spurt India to the frontline of global diplomacy. India is now seen with renewed interest in strategic alliances and foreign investment. It is no mean achievement that the country’s foreign reserves are at a historic, record-breaking high of about $600 billion. In 2019, India emphatically re-elected Narendra Modi to further build on his transformative agenda of change. Barely a year into government, the COVID-19 pandemic grinded the world economy to a halt. After overcoming shortages and building capacities for PPE kits, masks, ventilators, medicines and other critical healthcare requirements, the government launched the ambitious Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyaan, to convert a crisis into an opportunity for self-reliance. Viewed by many as a second independence movement towards making India self-reliant and for positioning the nation as a global power, packages totaling Rupees 30 lakh crore (about $425 billion) were announced by the Modi government in three tranches in 2020. ‘Vocal for Local’ became a war cry to promote a ‘Made in India’ product range to make India into a globally competitive manufacturing hub. In the two decades that Narendra Modi has been in public office, first as Chief Minister and then as Prime Minister, he has established his vision of development for all. In the seven years that he has been in at the centre, his schemes have done more for the rural poor and downtrodden sections of India than any previous government aspired to do so. His passion to ensure the upliftment of the poor and deliver basic necessities to the citizen has brought about a fundamental change in the approach and strategy of governance. Poverty alleviation has been replaced with poverty eradication as the goal. In doing so, he has unleashed the might of the aspirations of a billion citizens of India.  The author is a National Spokesperson of the BJP.