The prime minister inaugurated Rashtra Prerna Sthal in Lucknow on former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s birth anniversary. The memorial, spread over 65 acres and built at an approximate cost of Rs 230 Cr, has tall statues of Vajpayee and Bharatiya Jana Sangh founder Deen Dayal Upadhyay and Shyama Prasad Mookerjee. The site was earlier a garbage dump which was cleared to build this complex.
Modi underlined that BJP takes pride in the fact that it “got the opportunity to remove the wall of Article 370”, thus upholding Mookerjee’s mission. He also emphasized that Upadhyaya’s pledge of serving the last man in the queue has been fulfilled by his government through its aim of saturation in implementing its welfare schemes. True secularism, he said, is in not discriminating between deserving beneficiaries.
Speaking on the occasion, Modi lauded the contributions of these three leaders as well as Dalit icon Bijli Pasi, whose fort is located in Lucknow, as well as Madan Mohan Malviya.
Without naming the Nehru-Gandhi family, the prime minister said for decades after Independence a particular family was glorified by naming government schemes, schools, streets and public places after them. BJP government freed the country from this practice and respected the contributions of other great people. Family based politics also established the practice of political untouchability.
“Family-based politics has a distinct identity and is filled with insecurity, which compels such leaders to belittle others in order to make their own family appear larger and keep their influence intact,” Modi said.
He underlined that the “Opposition” and its partners treated others as political untouchables.Modi cited examples to buttress the point that BJP governments have given due respect to the deserving leaders. He said Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose statue was installed at India Gate and the attempts by previous dispensations to erase the memory of BR Ambedkar was undone by his government which revived the places associated with him . He alleged that the “Shahi parivar” in Delhi and the Samajwadi Party in Uttar Pradesh had indulged in this exercise.
“Efforts were also made to diminish the work and stature of Sardar Patel who had united the country after Independence. BJP ensured that he was given due respect. World’s tallest statue of Sardar Patel was built, and October 31 (his birth anniversary) is celebrated as National Unity Day,” Modi said.
Referring to the Prime Ministers’ Museum and Library in Delhi, Modi said earlier the work done by all PMs (apart from Jawaharlal Nehru) was ignored but his government corrected this.
Asserting that his government has not engaged in any discrimination, the prime minister said leaders like PV Narasimha Rao and Pranab Mukherjee were given Bharat Ratna while Mulayam Singh Yadav and Tarun Gogoi were conferred national awards.
The legacy of Birsa Munda and Maharaja Suheldev was also given recognition by his government, Modi said.
Modi began his speech with wishes to the nation on Christmas.