Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Sunday that the people of Northeast India had rejected the “politics of hate” by “unanimously” voting the Bharatiya Janata Party to power, PTI reported. The BJP won a majority in the Tripura Assembly, crossed the halfway mark along with its ally the Nationalist Democratic People’s Party in Nagaland and is likely to form a government in Meghalaya in alliance with three other parties.
Modi, addressing a youth convention in poll-bound Karnataka’s Tumkur district, said the results in Tripura, where the BJP won 43 of the 59 seats, gave him “immense joy”. The Communist Party of India (Marxist) was in power in Tripura for more than two decades.
The prime minister attacked the erstwhile Left and Congress governments in the Northeast, claiming that people in the region had felt cut off from the Indian mainstream because of policies that alienated them.
“Our government has resolved to work in such a way that no part of the country and no group feels alienated and we have proved this by working towards it,” he said. “This wave of integration can also be felt among the people of Karnataka.”
Modi added that the mandate the people of Northeast India had given to the BJP was in itself a very big change. Modi added that the results of the three elections had created an “atmosphere of festivity” across the country.
“I do not see the Northeast poll results through the lens of victory and defeat of political parties, but what is important is that the whole country became participants in the happiness of people residing there,” he said. He said the rest of India had sent a strong message that it was with the people of the Northeast in realising their dreams.
Limited-time offer: Big stories, small price. Keep independent media alive. Become a Scroll member today!
Our journalism is for everyone. But you can get special privileges by buying an annual Scroll Membership. Sign up today!