Prime Minister Narendra Modi seemed overcome with emotion as he expressed a desire for a childhood home akin to the ones he inaugurated in Maharashtra’s Solapur on Friday.
Modi then connected the event to the imminent consecration of the Ram temple, highlighting that the deity would finally have a permanent residence after years in a tent.
“Today, the nation’s largest housing society was inaugurated under the PM Housing Scheme. Visiting it, I couldn’t help but wish for a similar home during my childhood...,” Modi said at a rally and went silent for some time, appearing to choke. “Happiness comes when people’s dreams come true. Their blessings are my biggest asset,” he added in a choked voice. Earlier, Modi has used such emotional outpourings while addressing voters.
The Prime Minister was addressing the rally after dedicating over 90,000 houses built under the government’s housing scheme and inauguration of other development projects. From Solapur, he hopped to Bangalore to inaugurate Boeing’s Technology and Engineering Centre, and from there, he dashed to Chennai to hold a roadshow, seeking to dominate the narrative much ahead of the announcement of the general elections.
In Tamil Nadu, he is scheduled to visit key temples over the next two days, ahead of the Ram temple consecration on January 22. Modi has particularly been focusing on the southern states, and this is his second visit to Tamil Nadu this month. The effort, BJP leaders said, is to use the Ram temple to push Hindutva in a region that has remained out of saffron bounds thus far.
In the aftermath of the poignant moments at the Solapur rally, Modi shifted his focus to an exploration of the Ram temple consecration. Intertwining the narrative, he subtly drew parallels between the inauguration of houses for the poor and the imminent establishment of a permanent abode for Lord Ram. “On January 22, the long-awaited historic moment arrives as Lord Ram takes his seat in the grand temple, putting an end to decades of darshan in a humble tent,” Modi told the crowd, urging them to light Sri Ram Jyoti lamps in their new homes.
“Sri Ram Jyoti will serve as an inspiration to eradicate poverty from your lives,” Modi said and sought the people’s blessings, urging them to “dream big” as India was set to become the third largest economy in his third term, obliquely campaigning for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls.
“Those who are going to live in these new houses should not dream small. I urge you all to dream big. Fulfilling those dreams is my guarantee,” Modi said, stressing the poll slogan of “Modi ki guarantee…”. This was his second visit to Maharashtra this month.
Modi also took a dig at the previous Congress governments, accusing them of only raising slogans of poverty alleviation while most of the allocated money used to go into the leaders’ pockets. “We are committed to the uplift of the poor and have proved it in the past 10 years,” he said.
