Vice-President M. Venkaiah Naidu on May 11 said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was a “phenomenon”, a point that even his detractors had to concede.
Mr. Naidu was speaking after he released the book Modi@20: Dreams Meet Delivery, a collection of essays on Mr. Modi on his completion of 20 years of helming governments, first as Chief Minister of Gujarat and later as Prime Minister of India, by his Cabinet colleagues, including Home Minister Amit Shah, External Affairs Minister (EAM) S. Jaishankar, and Mr. Modi’s former Principle Secretary in the Prime Minister’s Office, Nripendra Mishra, among others.
Mr. Shah and Mr. Jaishankar were also speakers at the event.
Mr. Naidu said that under Mr. Modi’s government, India had gained respect and recognition worldwide. Terming Mr. Modi as one of the most popular and iconic leaders of modern India, the Vice-President said he was an example of the master craftmanship of working hard, who not only dreamt big for the country but also persevered to implement his plans for uplifting the poor.
“Prime Minister Narendra Modi has given a three-line mantra — reform, perform, transform — and he is living up to it,” Mr. Naidu said.
Describing Mr. Modi’s journey as an administrator, he said that despite the fact that he had no administrative experience, he had given his best after he was elected as the Chief Minister of Gujarat in 2002. “Mr. Modi was elected again and again, and then at the Centre, as people trusted him,” Mr. Naidu said.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah said that to understand Mr. Modi’s achievements over the past 20 years, people should study the three previous decades during which he entered into social and public service, travelled extensively, and understood the problems of the people.
“It was about the journey of a man from a humble background, who started out as a part of the organisation, worked hard as a party worker, and rose up to become Prime Minister of the country,” said the Home Minister.
Describing his personal traits, Mr. Shah said Mr. Modi was a “great listener; [a] creative thinker who believed in setting high goals and achieving maximum output”. It was reflected in his policies of cleanliness, building toilets, and taking potable water, electricity and cooking gas to each household.
Mr. Modi did not make haste in planning policies, but implemented them with great dedication. He brought in India-centric technology and economic reforms, focussed on security and made national security the core of India’s foreign policy. “Under him, people’s faith in multi-party democratic system got stronger,” Mr. Shah said.
EAM Dr. Jaishankar said that the Mr. Modi-led foreign policy was security focussed, development focussed and people-centric. The country’s foreign policy was that of a “civilisational State” under him.
“Mr. Modi had made terrorism the centre of global debate, taken efforts to attract investments, and bring in best practices and technology from different parts of the world,” the EAM said.
The Vande Bharat mission, Operation Ganga, and Operation Devi Shakti evacuation missions had instilled faith among Indians that the Indian government had got their back in any crisis situation. It had also brought a huge change in the view that the world had about India, Dr. Jaishankar said.
Mr. Modi also propagated Indian culture and traditions, which was reflected in his efforts in popularising yoga and ayurveda, and even on an assertion that India was not just a follower of democracy, but the owner of democracy and, in many ways, the founder of democracy. A non-reciprocal and generous neighbourhood policy, and programmes like Vaccine Maitri, were other dimensions Dr. Jaishankar remarked upon.
