Gandhinagar, Jan. 15 (PTI): Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday said the result of the recently-concluded Gujarat Assembly elections is important not just for the state but for the entire country as it has sent a message that Narendra Modi will be re-elected as the prime minister in 2024.
In a veiled reference to the opposition Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party, Shah said the people of Gujarat, by helping the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) retain power with a record number of seats in the state, responded to those who tried to defame the state and Prime Minister Modi.
"The people of Gujarat have worked to end the poison of casteism and slapped those making empty, false and alluring promises. The people of Gujarat have responded to those who tried to defame Gujarat and Narendra Modi," Shah said at a function here to inaugurate and lay the foundation stones of various projects.
"This result is important not for Gujarat alone. There will be (Lok Sabha) elections in 2024, and the entire country is prepared to once more make Narendra Modi the prime minister," he said.
This message of Gujarat has reached from Kashmir to Kanyakumari (north to south in the country) and from Dwarka to Kamakhya (west to east) that "Modi Saheb will again become the prime minister in 2024," the senior BJP leader said.
Shah said there is no need to elaborate on the works done by the BJP government for the development of the state, as people respond to it in the election.
"There is not a single state where one party has ruled uninterrupted for 27 years. Gujarat is the only state where the BJP has ruled (for 27 years and more)," he said.
Shah said when the Gujarat elections were announced, the Congress claimed this time it was its chance. "People from Delhi also arrived here with the promise of giving this and that for free," he said.
Despite all this, when the result was announced, the BJP emerged the winner with a record number of 156 seats (out of the total 182 in Gujarat), he said.
Every single worker of the BJP in the state is indebted to the people for their support and feels proud of this fact, the Union minister said.
The party won 34 out of the 40 seats reserved for the Scheduled Tribe and Scheduled Caste candidates in the state, he said.
Prime Minister Modi worked not just to provide basic facilities at the village level, but also did many works to make Gujarat number one in the world, by way of construction of the world's tallest Statue of Unity (in Narmada district), the biggest stadium named after Narendra Modi (Ahmedabad) and Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (Gandhinagar), Shah said.
Talking about the virtues of cleanliness, Shah said unless people work together, no government can make a village or a city clean.
"Cleanliness is the first condition for good health. PM Modi is going to make a big health centre. It is easy to make a health centre...but it is better not to fall ill and not require to visit a health centre. For that, we will have to keep our villages clean," he said.
Shah inaugurated and laid the foundation stones of various projects in Gandhinagar-North Assembly constituency and also launched a campaign for plastic-free villages from Moti Adraj village in the state capital.