New Delhi, May 26: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday launched a channel dedicated to farmers to mark his government’s first anniversary while union ministers and BJP leaders held press conferences and public meetings in different parts of the country. The Congress however slammed the government as one of “self, selfies and selfishness”.
In a letter to the people on Tuesday Modi said he had devoted every moment of each day and every element of his body and spirit in fulfilling the responsibility entrusted to him by people last year – when he had led the Bharatiya Janata Party to a historic win in the Lok Sabha polls and its first full majority in parliament. The BJP-led National Democratic Alliance government had assumed office on May 26 last year.
He also wrote a letter on economic issues, saying that economic growth has been revived and the GDP growth was amongst the fastest globally, but noting there was much more to be done and he was aware of the high expectations.
Modi interacted with the officers of the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) and praised them for “hard work and dedication”. He also called on President Pranab Mukherjee.
In a tweet later, Modi said he was “deeply touched” by the congratulatory messages and would continue to work to fulfil their aspirations.
A new look website – www.narendramodi.in – was also unveiled which focuses on the government’s accomplishments so far and Modi’s vision for development.
The prime minister also launched the DD Kisan channel at a function in the national capital and called for “big change” in agriculture – a step seen as a measure to counter the constant criticism of his government being “pro-corporate” and “anti-farmer”.
The BJP began the day with press conference by its chief Amit Shah highlighting the achievements of the government, which he termed “visible and pro-active” and determined to get back black money stashed abroad. Shah later addressed a public meeting in Haryana’s Karnal.
Home Minister Rajnath Singh spoke on a range of issues in his press conference in Kolkata and termed the NDA’s one-year progress report as “excellent”. He said the country has moved out of the crisis of “policy paralysis” and India’s rating has turned positive globally.
The BJP unit in Uttar Pradesh kicked off a mass contact programme aimed at telling the masses about the NDA regime’s achievements. State party president Laxmikant Bajpayi launched the programme formally at Nagwa village in Ballia, the birth place of 1857 martyr Mangal Pandey, while union Water Resources Minister Uma Bharti kicked off the campaign in Meerut.
Meanwhile, Minister of State for Minority Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, addressing BJP workers in Kishanganj and Purnea districts of Bihar, said the central government has succeeded in removing the “loot lobby” and “champions of corruption” from the corridors of power in Delhi.
The BJP has planned 200 press conferences and over 4,000 public meetings to take the government’s initiatives to the people.
On the other hand, the Congress also sought to match the publicity blitzkrieg of the NDA government with press conferences, rallies and protests.
Party vice president Rahul Gandhi addressed a Youth Congress rally at Kerala’s Kozhikode, where he reiterated the Modi government was a “suit boot government”.”My advice to them is if this is the way they carry forward, then the farmers, labourers and the ordinary people will not allow them to celebrate five birthdays,” he said.
In its press conference addressed by its leader in the Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge, his Rajya Sabha counterpart Ghulam Nabi Azad and communications in charge Randeep Singh Surjewala here, the Congress dismissed the Modi government as “just an event management company”.
“This one year has been a government of self, selfies and selfishness. If the government would have done some work, they would not have needed to do so many rallies… their work would have spoken for itself,” Surjewala said.
The Congress also released a short video on the turnarounds made by the Modi government in the last one year and released a booklet on its “failures”. (IANS)
