Sardar Patel, Warrior, Lord Ram, Mahamanav, Superpower Administrator: BJP on Narendra Modi in the last 8 years
Modi was like Gandhi because he advocated swachhata (cleanliness), Chouhan added, and like Bose for “carrying out surgical strikes in Pakistan after the Pulwama terror attack”, and comparable to Patel for working for “unification” of the country.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi waves at the crowd during a public rally, in Shimla, Tuesday, May 31, 2022. (PTI)
Speaking on eight years of Modi as PM, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said on May 30: “In the last eight years, Narendra Modi ji has instilled new confidence in the dreams and aspirations of every citizen of the country. He not only made the country safe with his capable leadership and strong will but also took many such decisions which raised the head of every countryman with pride.”
On May 28, Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, reacting to Congress leader Siddaramaiah’s statement that Modi has undone all of Jawaharlal Nehru’s “good works”, said, “Obviously, he (Modi) cannot be compared with Nehru, because when China invaded India (in 1962), without taking proper measures, Nehru gave away border areas while Narendra Modi stood strong and saved them.”
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PremiumBJP leaders have also hailed the Modi government’s measures against Covid-19. In April 2021, in a reference to the PM, former Union sports minister Vijay Goel said: “This mahamanav (great man) is engaged in the welfare of the country for 24 hours.”
Speaking about 20 years of Modi in public life, as CM and then PM, Union Minister Anurag Thakur said on October 7, 2021, there was a “new, rising” India that was leading the world.
A book titled “Aaj ke Shivaji: Narendra Modi” written by Maharashtra BJP’s Jay Bhagwan Goyal was released in January 2020, comparing the PM with the Maratha King. After the Shiv Sena and NCP raised objections to the comparison, then Union minister Prakash Javadekar clarified that the book had “nothing to do with the BJP”. The “legendary Maratha King” could not be “compared with anyone else”, he said.
During the 2019 campaign, Modi called himself “chowkidar”, who was “standing firm and serving the nation”, thus taking the sting out of the “chowkidar chor hai” attack on him by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi.
In 2018, Madhya Pradesh Agriculture Minister and BJP leader Kamal Patel called the Prime Minister an “incarnation of Lord Ram”, saying that he was born to end the rise in “atrocities” committed by the Congress, and adding that Modi was leading India on the path towards becoming “vishwa guru (world leader) “.
Back in 2016, then Cabinet minister and now Vice-President M Venkaiah Naidu called the PM “god’s gift to India” and a “messiah for the poor” at a BJP National Executive meeting.
The same year, Cabinet minister Kiren Rijiju said in a Facebook post that “French prophet Nostradamus” had predicted Modi’s rise. The post said: “This was predicted in the year 1555. A middle aged superpower administrator will bring a golden age not only in India but in the entire world. Under his leadership India will not only just become the global master, but many countries will also come into the shelter of India.”
