Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that he is the first such Prime Minister of India who was born after Independence and added that his heart and mission have been very clear from the first day about his duties and responsibilities.
“I am the first such Prime Minister of India who was born after Independence. Crores of Indians dedicated their life to the Independence movement… We couldn’t die for India, but, we can live for the country…” PM Modi said in his address to the Indian community in New York on Sunday.
PM Modi’s address at the “Modi and US” programme was a historic event at the Nassau Coliseum in Long Island, New York, as 15,000 members of the Indian diaspora gathered from 42 different states to welcome the Prime Minister.
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“From the very first day, my heart and mission have been very clear. I couldn’t give my life for ‘Swaraj’ (self-rule), but I decided that I would dedicate my life to ‘Suraaj’ (good governance) and ‘Samruddh Bharat’ (prosperous India),” the Prime Minister added.
The Prime Minister also spoke on upcoming elections in the US. The US elections are scheduled for November and will see incumbent Vice President Kamala Harris battle former President Donald Trump.
“Elections are about to be held here. The elections that were just held in India were the biggest elections held so far in human history. We had almost double the number of voters as the total population of America. When we see this scale of Indian democracy, we feel even more proud,” PM Modi said.
Reminiscing the long-election process in India, PM Modi said that his government returned to power for the third consecutive time.
Prime Minister Modi said, “You may remember this word ‘Pushp’ which means flower, I define it as ‘P’ for progressive Bharat, ‘U’ for unstoppable Bharat, ‘S’ for spiritual Bharat, ‘H’ for humanity first, which India has dedicated itself to, and ‘P’ for prosperous India… all five petals of ‘Pushp’ or the flower that will make Viksit Bharat…After a long process of election, this time something unprecedented has happened in India… For the third consecutive time, our govt has returned to power. Such a thing didn’t happen in the last 60 years. This mandate of the people of India has great importance. In this third term, we have to achieve big targets.”
“There was also a time when I had chosen another path for myself, but destiny brought me into politics. I had never thought I would become a chief minister. I was the longest-serving CM of Gujarat. Later, the people promoted me and made me the prime minister,” he added.
The Bharatiya Janata Party-led NDA secured 293 seats in the Lok Sabha elections. BJP won 240 seats on its own. In the 543-strong lower house of the Indian parliament, 272 is the minimum majority figure.
Notably, PM Modi is the second Indian leader to win a third term after founding prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru.
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(With inputs from ANI)
