Peace, harmony must for growth, PM tells party MPs

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, March 3

As Parliament continues to witness protests by the Opposition against his government over the Delhi riots, Prime Minister Narendra Modi today called peace, harmony and unity as prerequisites for the country’s development.

Urging BJP MPs to always keep national interest above the party, he asked them to take lead in ensuring amity in the society. Addressing the BJP parliamentary party meeting, the party’s first gathering after the riots last week, PM Modi also took a veiled dig at his predecessor Manmohan Singh. Attempts are being made to create a controversy around the slogan ‘Bharat Mata ki Jai’ (Hail Mother India) in the same way objections were raised about ‘Vande Mataram’ after the freedom struggle, sources quoted him as saying.

At a recent event, the senior Congress leader had said the slogan ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai’ was being misused to construct a “militant and purely emotional” idea of India that excludes millions of residents and citizens. “Some people are now smelling a rat in ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai’,” the Prime Minister is said to have told the party forum.

Briefing the media after the meeting, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi said the PM said national interest is supreme for the BJP, while for others party interest. “Vikas (development) is our mantra and peace, harmony and unity prerequisites for the country’s development. We should not merely speak about it but must take lead in ensuring peace, harmony and unity,” the PM said.

Emphasising on his slogan of ‘sabka saath, sabka vikas and sabka vishwash’ today, he also invoked “manasa, vaacha, karmana” to urge party leaders to work for the country’s development with their mind, words and action.