PM Modi’s journey from worker to Prime Minister reflects party’s work culture: Gujarat CM

Gandhinagar, Sep 10 (AHN) The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Thursday highlighted Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s journey from an ordinary party worker to the country’s Prime Minister as an example of its worker-oriented political culture, as the Gujarat BJP announced a month-long campaign to mark his 25 years in public life.

Addressing a press conference at the state BJP headquarters in Gandhinagar, Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel said PM Modi’s 25-year journey was not merely an individual political career but the continuous pursuit of a worker’s commitment to public and national service.

“BJP is the only party where, based on a worker-oriented work culture, even an ordinary worker can become the Prime Minister of the country, and Narendra Modi is an excellent example of this,” Patel said.

Modi began his tenure as Gujarat Chief Minister on October 7, 2001, before becoming Prime Minister in May 2014.

The BJP plans to observe the completion of 25 years of his public service with the ‘Seva Sankalp Abhiyan’ from September 17 to October 17.

Patel said the campaign would seek to take PM Modi’s 25 years of public service, dedication and spirit of service to people across the country and turn the spirit of service into a people’s movement.

"PM Modi’s working style has treated power, office and organisation as instruments for public welfare and national interest rather than ends in themselves. The biggest feature of Narendra Modi’s 25 years of governance is ‘Minimum Government, Maximum Governance’,” Patel said.

Recalling PM Modi’s tenure as Gujarat Chief Minister, Patel said the state’s recovery after the 2001 earthquake and subsequent development had been marked by initiatives such as the Kutch Rann Utsav, Vibrant Gujarat, Jyotigram Yojana, Kanya Kelavani Abhiyan and water conservation programmes.

"Gujarat had subsequently acquired the identity of a 'policy-driven state' and a 'growth engine' of the country," he asserted.

Patel said PM Modi’s governance model placed emphasis on ensuring that the benefits of government policies and schemes reached the last person in society.

He cited initiatives including Jan Dhan Yojana, Ayushman Bharat and Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana, and said technology had increased transparency and accountability in governance, while digital payments and UPI had given India a distinct global identity.

Patel claimed that around 25 crore people had moved out of poverty and said, "Lakhs of families had benefited from food, housing, healthcare and sanitation programmes".

Referring to India’s position globally, Patel said the country was moving towards becoming the world’s third-largest economy and cited a recent growth rate of 7.8 per cent.

Gujarat BJP president Jagdish Vishwakarma said October 7 would mark 25 years since PM Modi entered public office as Gujarat Chief Minister and described the occasion as an opportunity to highlight his journey “from a worker to Pradhan Sevak, from public service to national service and from resolve to achievement”.

"The same approach had been extended at the national level through the principle of 'Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, Sabka Vishwas and Sabka Prayas'," he said.

Vishwakarma cited the government’s claims of more than 43 crore people receiving health cover under Ayushman Bharat, more than four crore families receiving houses under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana, around 60 crore people being connected with banking through Jan Dhan Yojana, 11 crore LPG connections under Ujjwala and free foodgrains being provided to more than 81 crore beneficiaries under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana.

He also cited more than Rs 4 lakh crore in assistance to farmers under the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi and said around 25 crore people had moved out of poverty.

Vishwakarma said the government’s initiatives had also focused on women’s empowerment, manufacturing, startups, defence production, exports and employment.

"India had emerged as the world’s third-largest startup ecosystem and had strengthened its manufacturing capabilities under the ‘Make in India’ initiative," he said.

He said PM Modi had received the highest civilian honours from 36 countries, describing them as an honour for 140 crore Indians.

He also cited the government’s actions against Naxalism, the Direct Benefit Transfer system, expansion of AIIMS and the Swachh Bharat Mission.

The ‘Seva Sankalp Abhiyan’ will begin on September 17 with blood donation camps under ‘Seva Day’.

At 7 p.m., the BJP plans to organise ‘Aashirvad No Divo’, under which families and beneficiaries of government schemes at each booth will light lamps to express gratitude for PM Modi’s 25 years of public service.

The campaign will also include school drawing and elocution competitions under ‘Mara Sapnanu Bharat’, while ‘Namo Seva Gatha—Ankahi Kahaniyan’ will use 25-30 minute theatrical presentations to narrate PM Modi’s 25-year public service journey and various welfare schemes.

Under ‘Aanganano Utsav’, Anganwadi workers and ASHA workers will be felicitated, and information on nutrition, healthcare and women’s welfare schemes will be provided. ‘Sevani Varta’ will document accounts from people about changes in their lives following government schemes.

On October 7, the BJP will organise the ‘Seva Jyoti Kalash Yatra’ and take a pledge for ‘Viksit Bharat 2047’. Ten groups each will travel from Vadnagar to Varanasi and Varanasi to Vadnagar, with the stated objective of performing Jalabhishek at Hatkeshwar Mahadev in Vadnagar and Kashi Vishwanath Mahadev in Varanasi.

Other initiatives include ‘Seva Maru Yogdan’, featuring 25 service-oriented activities through public participation; ‘Seva Setu Abhiyan, Sarkar Aapna Dware’, with camps at block level to facilitate access to Central and state welfare schemes; and ‘Sevana Rang, Rashtra Na Sang’, under which human formation rangolis will convey messages about welfare schemes, national symbols and Viksit Bharat.

Five regional ‘Seva First Innovation Challenges’ will also be organised for young people, students, startups, professionals and corporate innovators, with applications to be invited online through educational institutions, startup networks and incubation centres.

A nationwide cleanliness campaign will be conducted on October 2 as part of the annual observance. Deputy Chief Minister Harsh Sanghavi was also present at the press conference.