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Prime Minister Narendra Modi being garlanded by BJP President Amit Shah, UP CM Yogi Adityanath, BJP UP chief Mahendra Nath Pandey and others during a meeting with the party workers at Deen Dayal Upadhyay Hastkala Sankul in Varanasi, Monday, May 27, 2019. (PTI Photo) [/caption]
Varanasi, May 27 (PTI): Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday said chemistry has triumphed over poll arithmetic to give the BJP a landslide victory in the Lok Sabha elections and also spoke about how his party always faced the dangers of "political untouchability" and political violence.
On a thanksgiving visit to this temple town after his victory from Varanasi parliamentary constituency for the second straight time, Modi decried the misconception that the BJP was a Hindi heartland party.
Calling himself a 'sevak' of Varanasi, Modi offered prayers at the Kashi Vishwanath temple that was preceded by a roadshow of sorts as his cavalcade traversed through the bylanes of this temple town amid high security with crowds lining the roads and people on rooftops trying to catch a glimpse of the man who will be sworn as prime minister for a second term on May 30.
"Political pundits are not aware that their thinking and logic is meant for the 20th century. Results show that beyond arithmetic there is chemistry and this time chemistry has triumphed over arithmetic," Modi told his electorate while thanking them profusely for their hard work and dedication, four days after he steered the BJP to power at the Centre with a resounding victory of 303 seats in the Lok Sabha.
Modi, who will be taking oath as the prime minister for the second time on May 30, said the hat trick of victories in 2014, 2017 and 2019 -- vis-a-vis Uttar Pradesh -- is no mean achievement for the BJP.
"For the country I am the PM, but for you I am your MP, I am your sevak," he told the Varanasi electorate, wondering how political pundits still consider his party as that of the Hindi heartland. Modi's victory margin was over four lakh votes.
"There is no region where the BJP's poll percentage is not rising. We have government in Assam, getting elected in Ladakh yet political pundits say (our's is) Hindi heartland politics, this is a misconception that has been created," he said at the meeting of BJP workers.
Admitting that politics is about perception, Modi lamented that a wrong impression had been created about his party through lies and wrong logic.
"Because of this wrong awful perception, people do not like standing with us. But those creating bad and wrong perception can be defeated with the help of transparency and hard work. This is the strategy to trounce it," he said.
Modi also dwelled on the dangers faced by the BJP in the form of "political untouchability" and political violence.
"Take the cases of Kerala or Kashmir, Bengal or Tripura (these cases) it will not come in media. Some people have selective sensitivity. Hundreds of workers have been killed only for political ideology. In Tripura workers were hanged, in Bengal murders are still on, in Kerala too... perhaps in India only one political party has faced such killings. Violence has been given legitimacy. This is a danger before us," he said.
"Babasaheb Bhimrao (Ambedkar) and (Mahatma) Gandhi had shunned untouchability but unfortunately, political untouchability is rising,...BJP workers were murdered," he said.
Amid such hatred, BJP's mantra remains 'Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas' Modi said, adding that unlike others, his party has not come under the pressure of vote bank politics which has "spoiled" democracy.
The prime minister said he was also grateful to his opponents who fought against him.
Stressing on the significance of Opposition in democracy, he said: "When others come to power, there is no sign of opposition".
He cited the example of Tripura where there was no Opposition during the decades of Left rule but "now that we are in government there is a 'jaandar and shandar vipaksh'. This is the spirit of democracy."
Thanking Uttar Pradesh for showing the way for India and strengthening the foundation of healthy democracy, the prime minister also spoke about his Kedarnath visit after the completion of polling.
"Since the people of Kashi had ordered me not to come here for a month after filing my nomination papers, I thought if not Baba in Kashi then (baba) elsewhere," he said, adding perhaps no other candidate is as satisfied or contended as he was (before the results are announced) and its reason was the confidence of Kashivasis.
Earlier, BJP president Amit Shah said Modi has only shown a glimpse of development and Kashi will turn into an amazing city in the next five years.
In the city along with the prime minister for thanking the electorate and party workers for the landslide win in the recent Lok Sabha elections, the BJP president said what a difference had come in Kashi of 2014 and today.
Hinting at the SP-BSP-RLD alliance, he said some media was predicting Modi will not get clear majority but the party successfully gave a call for working on achieving 50 per cent vote share.