NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi reached out to traders in Delhi on Friday while acknowledging their role as “one of the biggest stakeholders” in nation building.
The trading community is considered one of the solid pillars of support for the BJP, Modi said, exuding confidence that he would return to power and fulfil the remaining promises made in his party’s Sankalp Patra (manifesto).
“Ever since Independence, the Congress blamed traders for whatever went wrong in the country. The Congress does not understand the history and contributions of traders. ‘naamdar’ (read, Rahul Gandhi) does not believe in giving respect to the community. Traders need respect. The previous government always ridiculed and abused you,” Modi told a packed convention of traders at the Talkatora stadium.
The PM claimed about 1,500 rules and regulations were done away with in last five years. Recalling his promises made in 2014, Modi relived his experience of addressing a similar convention. “Last time in 2014 when I was amongst you, I was the prime ministerial candidate. The Congress government used to blame traders for inflation. You have been always blamed by them. The previous government took pride in making new rules every other day. I had announced to repeal one rule each day… 1,500 rules have finished till now.”
Modi listed the achievements of his government through various schemes such as Mudra, Ujjawla, Jan Dhan under the NDA rule. “Since its launch, 70,000 women have benefitted every day from Ujjwala Yojna. Two lakh Jan Dhan accounts were opened and one lakh loans were disbursed under Mudra Yojna.” Skill, speed and scale are the work culture of his government and it will continue in the future, he added.
Modi presented himself as the Pradhan Sevak, and not the Pradhan Mantri, while highlighting the ‘report card’ of his government’s performance. Urging traders to be “tension-free”, The PM, in a lighter vein, dubbed traders as “accurate weather scientist”. “You know beforehand what the public demand is going to be next day,” he said, adding that they were “one of the biggest stakeholders” in nation building.
In the entire function, Modi steered clear of making any mention of the AAP government and Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.
Union Minister Vijay Goel invoked Mahatma Gandhi to praise the Prime Minister. “This direct meeting with the PM was a long standing demand of traders. Our PM is inspired by the ideals of Gandhi’s concept of cleanliness…the stand against casteism is his ideals,” said Goel. “If there is another Gandhi after Gandhi (the Mahatma), then it is the current prime minister.”
Business community reels under triple whammy
If demonetisation and GST were not enough, traders are suffering losses due to the sealing drive. Irked traders in Mayapuri recently clashed with the police during a sealing drive ordered by the NGT