We don’t believe in votebank politics, says Modi

Lucknow: Taking on the Opposition which has time and against accused him of playing vote bank politics, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday declared that his politics is not for votes as he and his party come from a “different culture.”

Speaking at a public meeting after inaugurating Pashu Aarogya Mela in Shahanshahpur, Varanasi, his Lok Sabha constituency, the Prime Minister said, “Our politics is not for votes, our culture is different. In politics, people undertake only those tasks which yields votes, but our character is different. Some politicians work only when it fetches votes, but we have been brought up in a different culture”.

He did not believe in votebank politics because, he said, country should be above party politics.

Reacting to the raging debate over the success of his government’s fight against blackmoney, the Prime Minister claimed that he had launched a major war against corruption and black money and was determined to weed it out of the system. Most of the problems faced by the common people in India are rooted in corruption, he said.

Talking about his pet project —Swachch Bharat — the Prime Minister said that cleanliness is like worship for him as it can rid the poor of various diseases and a great deal of economic burden. Hundreds of diseases come knocking at our doorstep because of lack of hygiene, he added. He said that he was fortunate to lay the foundation stone of a public toilet in Shahanshahpur village “because sanitation is also a kind of worship for me”.

Stressing on this particular theme, Mr Modi, quoting a Unicef report, said that each household in India which does not have a toilet, spends around Rs 50,000 a year on treatment of different ailments. “It is the responsibility of every citizen and every family to keep their surroundings clean so we are able to build clean villages, clean cities and a clean nation”, he stated.

The Prime Minister reiterated the Centre’s resolve of ensuring housing for all by 2022, when India completes 75 years as an independent nation.  “Providing a roof to every family in the rural or urban area is a huge responsibility,” he said and then, the man who is being projected by his party as the “ultimate vikas purush” thundered, “If Modi will not take up this challenge, who will?”

He blamed the state’s previous Samajwadi Party government of not being interested in building houses for the poor. He said that it was after much persuasion by the central government that the state government had submitted a list of 10,000 people who were to be provided housing.

“Within a short time, chief minister Yogi Adityanath has registered several lakhs for the housing scheme and the number of houses to be built for the poor equals the total number of houses of a medium sized European nation. Imagine the amount of cement, bricks, wood, steel and other building material required to build these houses. Arranging for this and building the houses will provide employment to a large number of people”, he claimed.

Mr Modi also lauded UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath for his work for the welfare of cattle and said that in the past no one paid attention to them as they do not vote. “I hope such programmes for the health of cattle will be held across the state through which we will take care of cattle belonging to the poor. It will be a relief for them”, he added.