BJP chief Amit Shah at the book launch. (Exprerss photo by Praveen Jain)On a day an alliance partner quit the NDA, accusing Prime Minister Narendra Modi of “reducing the Union Cabinet into a mere rubber stamp”, BJP president Amit Shah said those who call Modi “autocratic” do not know the difference between “firmness and autocracy”.
Shah said the Modi government has taken decisions that were good for the people, without appeasement or diluting democracy. “A person who is firm, can take decisions, and works with determination cannot be called autocratic,” Shah said at an event to launch BJP leader R Balashankar’s book Narendra Modi: Creative Disruptor — The Maker of New India.
“The people, under our multi-party democracy, have given the right to take decisions to the Prime Minister, not the leaders of opposition parties,” he said.
He said, “I also believe that more than those who have theoretical knowledge, those who are listeners are better at running at the country, and Narendra Modi-ji is someone who listens to all…. For those searching for the essence of Prime Minister Modi’s character, one of his biggest qualities and a major contributor to his success has been his ability to listen — he listens without interruptions. Parties get elected in and out of office, but Prime Minister Modi has established systems which will remain, and guide the future. It is a yugantakari parivartan (revolutionary change) — of running the country, rather than just running a government for the sake of remaining in power.”
Calling the surgical strikes, demonetisation and GST “historic decisions”, Shah said, Modi has set up a new governance model based on firmness, without diluting the principles of democracy.
