Lotus blooms from Gangotri to Gangasagar: PM Modi speaks on BJP’s historic victory in Bengal

New Delhi. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday said with the BJP’s historic victory in West Bengal, “lotus are now in bloom from Gangotri to Gangasagar” and called upon all parties to work “for change rather than revenge”. Addressing party workers at the BJP headquarters after the victory of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the assembly elections in West Bengal, Assam and Puducherry, Modi said that this is the day of proclamation of the bright future of the country.

The Prime Minister said, “This is a day of trust. This is a day of faith in the great democracy of India, a day of faith in the politics that works (for the people), a day of faith in the resolve of stability, and a day of faith in the spirit of ‘Ek Bharat, Shreshtha Bharat’.” He said at the victory ceremony, ”I bow to the people of West Bengal, Assam, Puducherry, Tamil Nadu and Kerala.”

BJP president Nitin Naveen, Union ministers Amit Shah and Rajnath Singh and other party leaders were present at the ceremony. On November 14 last year, when the results of Bihar assembly elections were declared, Modi, while addressing BJP workers from the same place, had said that the Ganga flows from Bihar to Ganga Sagar in West Bengal. He said, “And today, with the victory in West Bengal, lotus is in bloom from Gangotri (Uttarakhand) to Ganga Sagar (West Bengal). Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and West Bengal – all these states located on the banks of Mother Ganga now have BJP-NDA governments. Modi said that in this festival of democracy in West Bengal, there is no fear, but democracy has won.

He said that BJP has won in Bengal, hence there should be talk not of ‘revenge’ but of ‘change’ and of ‘future’ instead of ‘fear’. The Prime Minister said that victory and defeat are a natural part of democracy and politics, but the people of these five states have shown the world why “our country is the mother of democracy”. He said, “For us, democracy is not just a system, it is a culture running in our veins. Today the Constitution of India has also won. Our constitutional institutions have survived. Our democratic processes have won.

Modi said that about 93 percent voting in West Bengal is historic in itself and new voting records have also been made in Assam, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and Kerala. He said that the participation of women in this election was exceptionally high and it is emerging as the brightest picture of Indian democracy.

He said, “Today is a historic day, unprecedented. The happiness that is reflected on the faces when years of penance is transformed into achievement, is the same happiness that I see today on the faces of BJP workers across the country.” The Prime Minister congratulated the Election Commission, all its employees, all the personnel involved in the voting process, especially the security forces, for the smooth conduct of the assembly elections. He said, “History will always remember your contribution in maintaining the dignity of India’s democracy.”