VARANASI, May 17:
Riding high on BJP’s resounding victory in the Lok Sabha polls, Narendra Modi today took a dig at the drubbing of his rivals saying a coalition may be put together to form an opposition.
“Normally coalitions are forged to form a Government. But now, a coalition is being put together to form an opposition. People of the country have given a slap on their faces,” he said in his thanksgiving speech on the banks of the Ganga river here.
Invoking ‘Ma Ganga’, he said it was on her call he was here to contest and added that it was God’s will to be sent here to help clean the river and accomplish other tasks to make the holy town a cultural capital of the country.
“It is Mother Ganga who has set a task for me and I will follow her the way she guides me and will keep working on her directions,” he said.
Participating in the ‘Ganga Aarti’ here today evening Modi said when India was leading the world, Varanasi led the nation.
“Till Varanasi leads the nation again, India cannot lead the world,” he said calling upon the people of the country to support him and contribute in helping India regain its pristine glory and Varanasi its place of prominence.
He also promised to convert the holy town into a big tourist spot and said making the city clean will be his top priority and sought the people’s support in doing so.
The first condition for making Kashi a cultural and spiritual capital of the country is to keep the city clean, he said adding that it has the potential to once again become the great tourist destination.
Modi said he doesn’t just need the votes of the people of Varanasi but also their cooperation in keeping the city clean.
Talking about the poll results in favour of BJP, he said posters carrying Modi’s photos cannot make him “their own” but Mother Ganga has done so.
He lamented that many Governments came and went but the cleanliness of the Ganga river remained a distant dream, saying “Mother Ganga is awaiting some son of hers who will accomplish the task to clean the river. There are a number of tasks that God has decided for me…”
Modi thanked people of the holy town saying even though he was silenced by the poll authorities and could not address them during campaigning, he has come here to salute the holy land and also the voters here.
He visited the holy city and offered prayers at famous Kashi Vishwanath temple.
After visiting the temple, the Prime Minister elect went to famed Dashashwamedh Ghat and took part in ‘Ganga Aarti’ for about half-an-hour amid chanting of ‘shlokas’ and blowing of conch shells.
Modi was accompanied by BJP president Rajnath Singh, his close aide Amit Shah and party UP chief Lakshmikant Bajpai.
His coming to the holy city is seen as a gesture of gratitude towards people here who have elected him by a huge margin of over 3 lakh votes.
A huge electronic lotus (artificial lotus) was floated in the middle of the Ganga river.
Ganga Arti at Dashashwamedh Ghat attracts huge crowds on a daily basis and there were some restrictions imposed on people visiting the nearby ghats amid tight security arrangements.
Meanwhile, after steering his party to power, Narendra Modi will be formally elected as the leader of the BJP Parliamentary Party at its meeting here on May 20 ahead of taking oath as Prime Minister.
The decision to convene a meeting of the Parliamentary Party was taken by the BJP Parliamentary Board, the highest decision-making body of the party chaired by its chief Rajnath Singh and attended by Modi, L K Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi, Sushma Swaraj, Arun Jaitley and other top leaders.
The Parliamentary Board also passed a unanimous resolution that hailed the people’s verdict in favour of the party and promised to put the country’s economy on a growth track while providing a government in accordance with highest standards of probity.
It also appreciated the “inspirational” and “visionary” leadership provided by Narendra Modi while leading the party’s campaign aggressively and the efforts put in by its workers and leaders.
Modi, who arrived in the capital a day after Lok Sabha poll results, was accorded a rousing welcome by thousands of enthusiastic BJP workers and supporters to whom he gave credit for the historic achievement and thanked them for rekindling “new hope” through their hard work.
In a brief address to the media, Rajnath Singh said the NDA allies will also be invited for a meeting on the same day where the leader of the coalition will also be chosen.
He dismissed media speculation about Modi’s swearing-in saying no date has been fixed and it will be decided after the Parliamentary Party meeting.
Rajnath said the BJP wants to build a country which is “strong, self-respecting and self-reliant”.
“The BJP Parliamentary Board records its deep sense of appreciation to the tireless effort and leadership provided by Narendra Modi in this campaign. It was this inspirational and visionary leadership which caught the imagination of the people of India and they reposed faith in it,” the resolution said.
Addressing the media briefly, Modi said he salutes the people of the country and thanked the voters for electing BJP.
Rajnath said, “The BJP Parliamentary Party will meet at 12 noon on May 20 to elect their leader. No need to tell who will be elected.”
He was addressing the media along with Modi, Advani and other top leaders after over an hour long meeting of the Parliamentary Board, where it also appointed observers to elect its leaders in states where assembly elections took place.
“The people of India have spoken and spoken decisively. For the first time since Independence, a non-Congress political party has got a majority on its own. The NDA has got an overwhelming mandate to govern.
“India needs a Government which is effectively led, and which can put the country’s economy on a growth track, makes it secure and provides a Government in accordance with the highest standard of probity,” the resolution also said.
Rajnath announced that party leader Thawarchand Gehlot was elected as observer for the May 20 Parliamentary Party meeting where Modi will be formally elected.
He also announced that Rajiv Pratap Rudy will be observer for Arunachal Pradesh, Prakash Javadekar for Odisha, Ravi Shankar Prasad for Andhra Pradesh and J P Nadda for Telangana, where newly-elected BJP MLAs will elect their leaders in the respective state assemblies.
Rajnath also said that this was the first time that the political stature of BJP had grown more than the Congress, as no party had ever achieved this earlier.
Addressing partymen, Modi credited BJP’s landslide victory to 125 crore people of India and the hard work by millions of BJP workers.
“As a person, Modi requests all of you, don’t give credit of this victory to Modi. It is the result of hard work of lakhs of workers. This victory belongs to those four-five generations who have toiled hard since 1952.
“The first credit for this victory goes to 125 crore Indians and the second to those martyred since 1952. In the last 25 years, thousands of our workers were killed in States like Kerala and those who gave up their lives in Tamil Nadu,” he said.
Modi broke away from his security cover to go out and address the party workers who had converged outside the BJP headquarters to get a glimpse of their leader and take part in the celebrations. (PTI)
Final Tally
Total number of seats: 543
Results declared: 543
NDA : 336
(BJP, LJP, Shiv Sena, SAD, TDP, NPF, NPP, PMK, Apna Dal, Rashtriya Lok Samta Party and Swabhimani Paksha)
1. Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP): 282
2. Lok Janshakti Party: 6
3. Shiv Sena: 18
4. Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD): 4
5. Telugu Desam: 16
6. Naga People’s Front: 1
7. National People’s Party: 1
8. Pattali Makkal Katchi: 1
9. Apna Dal: 2
10.Rashtriya Lok Samata Party: 3
11.Swabhimani Paksha: 1
12. All India N R Congress: 1
UPA: 62
(Congress, NCP, RJD, AIUDF, IUML,
Kerala Congress (M), RSP, SDF)
1. Congress : 44
2. Nationalist Congress Party (NCP): 6
3. All India United Democratic Front: 3
4. Indian Union Muslim League: 2
5. Kerala Congress (M): 1
6. Revolutionary Socialist Party: 1
7. Sikkim Democratic Front: 1
8. Rashtriya Janata Dal: 4
Others:
1. Communist Party of India (CPI): 1
2. Communist Party of India (Marxist): 9
3. All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam
(AIADMK): 37
4. All India Trinamool Congress (TMC): 34
5. Janata Dal (Secular): 2
6. Janata Dal (United): 2
7. Aam Aadmi Party (AAP): 4
8. Indian National Lok Dal: 2
9. Telangana Rashtra Samithi: 11
10. PDP: 3
11. Samajwadi Party: 5
12. Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress Party
(YSR Congress): 9
13. Biju Janata Dal (BJD): 20
14. Jharkhand Mukti Morcha: 2
15. All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen: 1
16. Independent: 3
(PTI)
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