Speaking about the last two decades of Modi’s political journey, Singh said, ‘Modi ji is 24-carat gold. There is not a single stain of corruption on him even after being the head of a government for 20 years.’
File image of defence minister Rajnath Singh. ANI
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh Friday lauded Prime Minister Narendra Modi for overcoming the crisis of credibility, the biggest challenge before politicians in independent India, with a deep understanding of Indian society.
Speaking at length about the last two decades of Modi’s political journey, Singh said, “A true leadership is identified by its intent and integrity and in both cases, Modi ji is 24-carat gold. There is not a single stain of corruption on him even after being the head of a government for 20 years.”
“You might have felt that in independent India, the biggest challenge before politics and politicians has been a crisis of credibility. Due to the difference between words and deeds of politicians, people’s trust in them lessened gradually,” he said.
Speaking at the valedictory session of a national conference on ‘Delivering Democracy: Reviewing 2 Decades of Narendra Modi as Head of Govt’, Singh said Modi is not merely a person.
“If we look at his political journey of the last two decades, we will find that new challenges kept coming before him. But the way he faced those challenges should be taught in management schools as a case study on effective leadership and efficient governance,” the defence minister said.
Lauding the prime minister for doing “great work”, Singh said that he accepted this crisis of credibility as a challenge and overcame it.
Citing another quality of Modi, Singh said that the prime minister gave a lot of attention to those issues which are not related to votes and gave examples of promotion of yoga, cleanliness campaign and health care.
On the successful test of the Agni-V missile, he said that this is not to scare anyone.
“Only a powerful country is respected by a strong country. We believe in Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam,” he added.
Modi as CM took Gujarat on path of holistic development: Rajnath
Talking about Modi’s tenure as Gujarat chief minister, Singh said he took Gujarat on the path of holistic development and worked for the progress of every section of the society.
“Yeh nara ‘Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas’ dete huiyae Narendra bhai ne Gujarat mein panth nirpekshta ki ek nai ibarat likh di (By giving this slogan of Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, Narendra Modi in Gujarat wrote a new chapter of unbiasedness towards any religion),” Singh said, adding secularism does not mean unbiasedness towards any religion.
Singh also cited various reforms and schemes started by Modi as Gujarat chief minister. Stating that there is no difference between words and deeds of Modi, the defence minister said he accepted the crisis of credibility in Indian politics as a challenge and overcame it.
Discussing Modi’s commitment to development, Singh said for a long time, promotion of trade, industry and business was avoided in this country.
“It was believed that if you stand with business and industry then your social commitment is weak. Modi ji gave a tough challenge to this misconception. He recognised and respected industry and entrepreneurs in nation building. Supported and promoted them also, Singh said.
Sharing the details of his long association with Modi, when they were chief ministers of Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat respectively, the former BJP chief said Modi’s amazing decision-making ability and his imaginative power impressed him the most.
Modi served as chief minister of Gujarat from 2001 till his election as prime minister in 2014.
On 7 October, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is currently serving his second term as the Prime Minister, has completed two decades in public office.
With inputs from agencies