Will strive to make dream of Viksit Bharat a reality: Modi

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday assured the NDA partners of ‘good governance, importance to Nari Shakti and beginning of a new chapter in development. He said together the Centre and NDA partners will strive to make the dream of Viksit Bharat a reality. He said there would be ‘Sub ka Prayas’ both inside and outside the House.

Addressing all the just-elected NDA members of the 18th Lok Sabha, Modi said all of them had worked at the grassroots level with the concept of “Jahan Kum, Vahan Hum.’ This unprecedented unity had brought the NDA back to power, he added.

Modi admitted that the regional aspirations and national aspirations should have closest bond. In the South, the NDA made inroads in Karnataka and Telangana. In Andhra too, it gave a very good performance, he added. This has made the writing on the wall clear that the NDA has a very bright future ahead, Modi said. He accused the Opposition of seeking to erode people's trust in democracy and casting a shadow of defeat over the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance's poll win. "If you see in the context of alliances and statistics, then this is the strongest alliance government," Modi said.

The BJP leader flayed the Opposition INDIA bloc leaders for casting suspicions on the Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) and the Election Commission throughout the poll process, alleging that they wanted to stoke fire across the country if the results did not suit them.

However, the EVMs silenced them by June 4 evening, he said in an apparent reference to the Opposition’s better-than-expected show. Modi said the world will also be drawn towards appreciating the diversity and expansiveness of Indian democracy following these results.

Modi projected the results as a nationwide popular endorsement of his government’s agenda, moving to quell any sense of pessimism among his own party members after the BJP fell short of a majority. He cited people’s increased support to the alliance in South India and Odisha, where the BJP is also set to form its maiden government, to laud its performance. “The Congress has not got as many seats in three Lok Sabha polls since 2014 as we have got in these elections. It has not been able to touch even the 100 mark this time,” he said.

“People know that we had not lost,” he said, adding that even a child would tell that it is the NDA that was in power before the polls, and which is in power after the polls. “Where did we lose? The NDA was there yesterday, is there today and will be there tomorrow,” he added. Modi interestingly did not say it was the BJPs achievement. He went on emphasizing on the word NDA while highlighting his government’s policies and programmes, and how its different members, including Telugu Desam Party’s (TDP) N Chandrababu Naidu and JD(U)’s Nitish Kumar, have ushered in development in their respective states.

After Modi’s election, leaders of different parties met President Droupadi Murmu to submit their letters of support to Modi.