NEW DELHI: In an oblique reference to Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s move to rake up Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s DNA swipe, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Monday said social harmony was in the DNA of the National Democratic Alliance Government.
Without referring to Nitish, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh said, “Peaceful co-existence and social harmony are not only ingrained in India, but also in the NDA. Social harmony and peaceful co-existence are our commitment, not our compulsion.”
Launching three books written by Modi, Rajnath said the Bharatiya Janata Party could have formed the government on its own when it won the elections, but it preferred to take all the NDA allies along.
Nitish was part of the NDA, but broke ties over Modi being made the PM candidate.
“It is due to the fact that social harmony and peaceful existence are in our DNA that we decided to form the government with our allies with whom we had fought elections,” Rajnath claimed.
On nation’s plurality, the Home Minister said, “As many as 72 sects of Islam are found in India, something very unique to the country. This is due to the qualities of social harmony and peaceful co-existence.”
Three books released on the occasion were Social Harmony, Jyotipunj and Sakshi Bhav. Another book, Modi: Common Man’s PM, written by Gujarati journalist Kishor Makwana, was also released on Monday.
BJP president Amit Shah, also present during the book launch, said Modi had humble origins and expressed confidence that the government’s report card after five years of rule would be a grand one.
Shah lauded Modi for establishing Gujarat model as an ideal model of governance, while Rajnath listed a number of measures of the Centre to hammer home the point that Modi is a leader of common man and cares for the poor and the last man in the row.
Rajnath said the books also presented the emotional aspect of the Prime Minister’s character, apart from his concern for common man and his organisational ability.