Economic Times | People accept harsh but honest decisions: PM Modi

Sep 20,2022

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday recalled his experiences with urban development in his capacity as chief minister of Gujarat and laid stress upon the fact that people accept harsh but honest decisions of the government if they are communicated to them in the right way.

Modi was virtually addressing BJP mayors' national conference in Gandhinagar, which is being attended by 121 mayors and deputy mayors of BJP from 18 states of the country.

Speaking on the occasion, Modi recalled that a decision to remove encroachments as part of urban development year celebrations was taken in Gujarat back in 2005, when civic elections were due in the state.

"Once the work started, Gujarat BJP leaders came to meet me and said 'now when the elections are approaching, how could you start this programme?' Even I had forgotten about the fact that 2005 was a year for civic polls," Modi said.

"But then I told them that the programme will not change. We shall have to convince the people. I am aware that anti-encroachment drives make some people angry," Modi said. "But my experience was different. When we honestly started our efforts to convince people they came forward themselves and removed encroachments. When people realised that the work was being done without prejudice, they cooperated," he added.

Contextually, Modi also spoke about the development of Kankaria Lake and Sabarmati riverfront, which went on to become proud displays of Ahmedabad's urban landscape. Modi further laid stress upon the need for decentralisation of town planning and said that town planning should be done at the state level as well.

While the conference assumes extra significance as, according to observers, it seeks to strengthen BJP's grip over the urban voters and the projection of 'Gujarat Model' as a template, which had gained much traction ahead of the 2014 general elections, the prime minister's repeated reference to his Gujarat experience also underlined the importance that the party is laying on the urban voters. It may be mentioned here that the civic bodies in the state have been increasingly coming under criticis.

Modi urged BJP mayors to work at retaining the trust of the people and said that "the people of our country for a long time have reposed their trust on BJP for urban development, and to keep the trust and grow it is our collective responsibility".

BJP president JP Nadda addressed the conference on Tuesday morning. Union minister for housing and urban affairs Hardeep Singh Puri and Maharashtra deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis are also scheduled to address the congregation.