BJP president Amit Shah prays at Lalbaugcha Raja in Mumbai on Sunday. Prashant Nadkar
BJP national president Amit Shah on Sunday showered praise on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, likening him to Swami Vivekananda and labelling him an “accepted global leader”. Visiting Mumbai for the first time after being sworn in as a Rajya Sabha MP, Shah also said that the Prime Minister had transformed “India into the world’s most accepted and celebrated democracy”.
The occasion was the launch of a compilation based on the life of Modi, but Shah did not miss out on the opportunity to take sharp digs at the Congress-led UPA, while counting the Prime Minister’s accomplishments.
The compilation, originally labelled Apala Narendrabhai, was launched in Gujarat in 2010. On Sunday, the Hindi version, Hamare Narendrabhai, was launched. In the run-up to the next Lok Sabha elections, sources indicated that the plan was to hold similar book launches in other cities too.
“Narendrabhai has now been accepted as a world leader. Several countries have backed his leadership. He has brought pride to the nation and its 125 crore citizens,” Shah said at the function.
While Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, who was also present for the function, recounted Modi’s address to the US, Shah went on to liken Modi to Swami Vivekananda. “After Swami Vivekananada, he has become the torch-bearer of the nation’s pride globally,” Shah said. Taking potshots at the “policy paralysis” in the previous UPA regime, he said Modi’s reign at the Centre had “ended the era of communal, dynastic, and appeasement politics”.
But even as he derided “individual centric” politics during Congress rule, Shah’s speech on Sunday was centred around how Modi turned the tide for the BJP. The speeches of other speakers, including Fadnavis and Union Minister Piyush Goyal, too were dedicated solely to the “brilliance” of Modi.
Khadse compares himself to Advani
BJP veteran leader Eknath Khadse on Sunday compared his situation to that of party’s national leader L K Advani. “I have toiled hard for the party’s growth all these years. Advaniji has similarly toiled his entire life for building the party. But the party’s stance for now appears to be to give new blood an opportunity, while using old hands for guidance purposes,” he said at a party function in Jalgaon.
