Bharatiya Janata Party’s National President JP Nadda on Saturday praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi for leading the fight against the coronavirus from the front and claimed that he took bold steps by involving common people in the fight.

Addressing a press conference to congratulate the Modi government for completing a year of its second term in office, Nadda said that it had been a year of accomplishments and unimaginable challenges. The BJP leader claimed that while many powerful countries had found themselves helpless during the pandemic, the situation was under control in India.

India recorded 7,964 new coronavirus infections in 24 hours on Saturday morning. This is the highest daily rise in infections so far, and the country’s tally crossed 1.73 lakh. Covid-19 has killed 4,971 people in the country. India is also the ninth worst-affected country in the world.

Nadda hailed the Centre’s decision of imposing the nationwide lockdown, and said it helped in checking the spread of Covid-19. The nationwide lockdown that began on March 25 is scheduled to end on May 31. Several migrant workers were stranded after businesses shut down and public transport was suspended. Many who started walking home died in road accidents. Some have also died of exhaustion.

The BJP leader claimed that Modi’s bold decisions helped in strengthening the country and made people realise the objective of ‘one nation, one constitution’. He referred to the scrapping of Article 370, strengthening of anti-terror laws and bank mergers as the key successes of the government.

Taking a dig at the Congress, he said that the party delayed the decision on the disputed land in Ayodhya. “Under the leadership of Modi, the Ram Temple will now be built as the government has already formed a trust for its construction,” Nadda said.

In May 2019, the BJP swept to power with a massive majority, winning 303 of the 543 seats in the Lok Sabha. Modi took oath as prime minister for a second term on May 30, 2019.

Other BJP leaders congratulate Modi

Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Saturday said that the name ‘Modi’ had a mantra in it, as each letter represented a quality. Chouhan claimed that ‘M’ stood for ‘motivational’, as the prime minister worked to take India to greater heights and also motivated people. ‘O’ stood for ‘opportunity’, as Modi worked to bring out the nation’s hidden opportunities. ‘D’ was for ‘dynamic leadership’, and ‘I’ for ‘inspire’, as he inspired the citizens to make India self-reliant.

Union Minister Nitin Gadkari said that in the last six years, the Modi-led government had laid the foundation for a self-reliant India. “In the history of [the] country, this time will be remembered when six years of work [was] accomplished to undo the wrongdoings of 60 years.”

Minister for Textiles Smriti Irani also congratulated Modi and said that the first year of his second term signified the sixth consecutive year of fulfilling aspirations of citizens. “Under Honourable Prime Minister’s leadership, a confident and resilient India will continue to march ahead towards a self-reliant India,” Irani said.

Railways Minister Piyush Goyal, in an op-ed in the New Indian Express, said that the country had witnessed several landmarks in Modi’s second term. “India’s efforts to contain and fight Covid-19 have been commended worldwide,” Goyal said.

He added that India’s current rates for infection, death and other indicators like doubling of cases, are amongst the lowest in the world. He also hailed Modi’s 20-lakh-crore economic package and said that it will provide relief to the poor, open new vistas for investment and provide framework for businesses to be future-ready.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah said India’s developmental journey in the last six years under the leadership of Modi “has been amazing, unimaginable and praiseworthy”.

In an editorial published in The Times of India, Shah said that in contrast to the “anxiety, stagnation, and hollow promises of the pre-2014 era,” this time the public has seen the ability to reach targets ahead of time with strong leadership, trust in people, their cooperation and self-confidence. “Undoubtedly, the Modi government has bridged the gap of six decades in six years and has laid the strong foundation of a self-reliant India.”

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