Prime Minister Narendra Modi, while campaigning for the BJP candidate in Mahendragarh on Thursday, went down memory lane and recalled the months he spent in the state working for the party organisation.
“It cannot be that I come to Haryana and do not recollect the old memories. I can spot many old faces here. For years, Haryana was, in a way, my home. I learnt a lot of lessons in politics from Haryana and Punjab,” PM Modi said, addressing an election rally here hours before the poll campaign for the sixth phase of elections came to an end.
After extending greetings to the people of the country on Buddha Purnima, PM Modi recalled the days when he was working as state in-charge for the party in 1995.
“Generally, the (BJP) state in-charges come to pay visits but I used to live here. At that time, Manohar Lal (Khattar) used to look after the work of the party organisation while Ramesh Joshi used to be our party’s state chief,” he said.
Mr Joshi, Mr Khattar and he used to criss-cross the state, said PM Modi.
“I ate a lot of food prepared by our mothers and sisters from the state. And I remember Surja ‘halwai ‘of Narnaul and Mahendragarh’s sweets. Maybe because of this, our Ram Bilas became diabetic,” he said, pointing to senior Haryana BJP leader Ram Bilas Sharma.
Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini, Union minister and Gurugram MP Rao Inderjit Singh, Bhiwani-Mahendragarh’s sitting MP Dharambir Singh, who is seeking re-election from the seat, were also present.
PM Modi said one used to have a glass of ‘rabri’, a ‘roti’ and an onion, which were sufficient to quell their hunger in the summer season.
“Jith seedha saada khana, woh mera Haryana (Haryana is the place where you get good and simple food),” he said.
“Haryana ke ghee aur makkhan ka zor aaj puri duniya dekh rahi hai (The whole world is witnessing the might of Haryana’s butter today),” he said, in an apparent reference to the state sending a sizeable number of its youth to join the armed forces and its athletes and sportspersons, who have won several medals in international championships.
PM Modi also recalled having ‘bajra khichdi’ dripping with ghee.
“I am a Gujarati man. I could not eat that much but I still remember the love with which the people used to give it,” he said.
“Modi has to do a lot of work to repay your debt. Haryana has to be taken to new heights… And for this it is necessary that ‘Phir ek baar…’,” said the Prime Minister, to which the crowd responded with Modi sarkar”.
He gave a guarantee that the BJP and his government will not let Haryana’s development stop and appealed to the people to vote for the BJP in the polls.
The Prime Minister also said that in Haryana, one will find at least 5,000 people who will call and stop him by saying “Modi ji zara ruk jao”. Haryana has showered lot of love on him and he has deep relations with the people of the state. That is why, Haryana has a right on him, the Prime Minister said.
He said that for 10 years they continued to shower the same love. “Who can be more fortunate than me,” he asked.
Recalling the period when the BJP and Chaudhary Bansi Lal’s HVP were in alliance in the 1990s, Modi said, “He (Lal) was committed to the development of Bhiwani-Mahendragarh. I enjoyed a close bond with Chaudhary Bansi Lal. He used to remain awake till late at night. Sometimes, our meetings used to start after 1 am and continue till morning. He had a lot of experiences to share,” he said.
The Prime Minister said there would hardly be any meeting when Mr Lal did not get teary eyed whenever a reference to Swami Dayanand was made, he said.
“Bansi Lal ji used to love me so much. I belonged to Gujarat and Swami Dayanand Saraswati’s birthplace was also Gujarat. So a bond was built between us. And, in the world of governance, we worked together for years,” he said.
Voting for the 10 Lok Sabha seats in Haryana will be held on Saturday. In 2019, the BJP had won all 10 seats.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
