The empowerment of women is his commitment and women need to be provided opportunities to go beyond the traditional roles they are associated with, Prime Minister Narendra Modi told NDTV in an exclusive interview today. The Prime Minister spoke to NDTV on the sidelines of a roadshow in Patna along with Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.
Asked if he is confident of women voters supporting the BJP, the Prime Minister replied, "The empowerment of women is my commitment. I have taken a lead in the G20 Summit - women-led development. For this, we must provide opportunities to women. They have to go beyond the traditional roles we associate them with. For example, we launched the 'Drone Didi' initiative in villages."
"We opened the doors of the Army (for women), made them Air Force pilots. We sent them to the borders, now our daughters are defending the country in Siachen. I have succeeded in bringing about a psychological change. Women power will boost the country's development journey and speed it up," the Prime Minister added.
The Prime Minister said the country has resolved to take the NDA beyond the 400-seats mark in this election. "The atmosphere of Bihar is the same as the rest of the country," he said.
On a question on the BJP's prospects in east India, the Prime Minister recounted a 2013 speech. "I was not even the PM candidate then. I had said that if we want to develop India, we must make East India the growth engine. In the last 10 years, I have consistently put emphasis on projects in east India related to infrastructure, education and health. As far as the election is concerned, there is a storm. In east India, we will get better results than before. I believe people will be surprised," he said.
In the 2019 election, the NDA alliance, comprising BJP, JDU and Ram Vilas Paswan's LJP, had won 39 out of Bihar's 40 seats. "I have spoken to our friends. We lost one seat last time. This time, we may not lose even one," the Prime Minister said.
After holding back-to-back rallies in West Bengal earlier in the day, the Prime Minister reached Patna and led a roadshow with Chief Minister Kumar. The 2.5-km roadshow started around 7.15 pm. Besides Mr Kumar, Deputy Chief Minister Samrat Chaudhary and BJP's Patna Sahib candidate Ravi Shankar Prasad accompanied the Prime Minister.
The Prime Minister will stay the night at Raj Bhavan in Patna. Tomorrow, he will be visiting Takht Harmandir, a Sikh shrine in Patna, before heading to poll rallies in Hajipur, Muzaffarpur and Saran.
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