"2014 To 2024 Was Just An Appetiser, Prepare For The Main Course": PM Modi

Highlighting the work done by his government in the last 10 years, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said it was just an "appetiser" and the main course is yet to come.

Addressing a rally in Churu, his second election rally in Rajasthan in three days, PM Modi also accused the Congress of insulting the Army and dividing people and said this represented the "identity" of the opposition party.

He further said that the country now is a "new India", which strikes within enemy territory - an apparent reference to counterstrikes in Pakistan after terror attacks in India. "Naya Bharat ghar mein ghus kar maarta hai."

"Today even the enemy knows that this is Modi, this is the new India," the Prime Minister added.

"No matter how much has happened, whatever has happened till now is a trailer. What Modi has done so far from 2014 to 2024, it was just an appetiser. Be prepared for the main course," he said.

"There is a lot to be done... there are a lot of dreams. We have to take the country far ahead." Attacking the Congress, PM Modi said the country was in a bad condition when the party was in power.

"The economy had collapsed due to the Congress' big scams and loot. India's reputation in the world was declining... Even after so many decades of Independence, people were struggling for basic necessities of life," he added.

"People thought that nothing could change, everyone was immersed in despair. In this despair and frustration, in 2014, you gave a chance to the son of the poor to serve you. Disappointment and frustration cannot come close to Modi. I decided that the situation has to change," the Prime Minister said, adding that India is his family.

In a big crisis like the COVID-19 pandemic when the whole world thought India would be ruined, "we Indians made the country the fifth-largest economy in the world", he said.

"I could have also said that the whole world has faced a disaster, what should I do? Maybe the countrymen would have accepted it, but Modi did not choose that path," the Prime Minister added.

Today, "Modi's guarantee" is being discussed in the country, he said, adding that Rajasthan is an example of how Modi's guarantees were fulfilled and at what speed.

"I gave a guarantee that cylinders for the poor will be cheaper, it has been fulfilled. An inquiry will be conducted against the Congress paper leak industry, it has been completed," PM Modi said.

The former Congress government in the state had stalled the Eastern Rajasthan Canal Project but after the BJP came to power, not only has the project been approved but work has also started on it, he added. "Whatever the BJP says, it fulfils." "Unlike other parties, the BJP does not just issue 'Ghoshna Patra', it brings 'Sankalp Patra'," PM Modi said, adding that most of the promises made in the BJP's 'Sankalp Patra' in 2019 have been kept.

He also attack the Congress for its stand on the Ayodhya Ram temple issue.

"Just now journalists were saying that the Congress has issued an advisory. They are so scared, they have told all Congress units to keep their mouths locked whenever Ayodhya Ram temple is discussed," the Prime Minister claimed.

"Unko lagne laga hai ki Ram ka naam liya toh pata nahi kab Ram-Ram ho jaye (They feel if they take the name of Ram, it can become 'Ram-Ram' for them)," PM Modi said.

Targeting the opposition INDIA bloc, he said, "I say remove corruption, they say save corruption." "The people of the 'Ghamandiya Gathbandhan' are not holding rallies for the election but to save the corrupt," PM Modi alleged.

The ED alone has seized assets worth more than Rs 1 lakh crore in 10 years, the Prime Minister said and asked people whether such action against the corrupt should not be taken.

"No matter how many lies the opposition parties spread against me, I am not afraid," he said.

"The Congress and the INDI Alliance have their own interests. They have nothing to do with the welfare and respect of the poor, Dalit and underprivileged people. These are the same people who did not respect Baba Ambedkar," PM Modi said.

"Congress did not allow Bharat Ratna for Baba Saheb for decades. They imposed Emergency. Backward classes commission was not given constitutional status. Modi fulfilled the decades-old demand. BJP gave the country a Dalit president and a tribal woman as president," he said.

PM Modi said when airstrikes and surgical strikes happened, Congress people were asking for proof.

"What were the Congress colleagues saying about the strike? They were demanding proof of bravery from our Army. Insulting the Army and dividing the country is the identity of Congress," he said.

PM Modi also said that the Congress has always prioritised appeasement over the country's interests.

"The country has seen what extent these people could go to please others. They said in the court that Lord Shri Ram is imaginary," he said in another attack at the Congress.

The whole country was celebrating when the dream of a grand Ram temple in Ayodhya was fulfilled but the Congress was openly insulting faith, PM Modi added.

Referring to the law on 'triple talaq', he said it has saved the lives of not only Muslim sisters but also all Muslim families.

Chief Minister Bhajanlal Sharma and the BJP's candidate from the Churu Lok Sabha seat Devendra Jhajharia also addressed the rally.
 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)