Recently a post by one Jinson Abraham went viral on Facebook. Mr. Abraham lists 56 reasons why one should not vote for the BJP in 2019. The post went on to garner 9000 likes and a whopping 36000 shares. Well full marks for the creativity, the title seems to be inspired by Netflix’s wildly popular series ’13 reasons why’. 13 has been substituted with 56 which is a possible reference to PM Modi’s ’56 inch ka seena’.
Mr. Abraham lists reasons like – Organised loot and legalized plunder, Demonetisation failed, GST failed, Jay Shah case. Upon careful investigation all of these reasons look like rants rather than substantianted allegations. Half of the ’56 reasons why’ list is subjective opinion, many of the ’56 reasons why’ items are reference to sub-judice cases. But clearly Mr. Abraham succeeded at achieving what he intended. Virality. That’s correct. His opinionated list is not a scholarly analysis but a half-baked collation of lies, half-truths and fabrications. But this is a free country and everyone is free to express his/her opinion.
We have created another 56 reasons why list. Our list however doesn’t contain opinionated rants but a list of things that the government has actually achieved.
So here are the 56 reasons why you should vote for the BJP in 2019 elections
1)Jan Dhan Yojana launched by PM Modi has led to more than 30 crore people joining the banking system, more than 18 crore of the said accounts have been opened in rural/semi-urban areas meaning it has succeeded in its goal of benefiting the last person.
2) Ujjwala Yojana is another project which aimed to help the economically weaker section of the society. More than 5 crore beneficiaries have been provided with LPG connections under this scheme.
3) Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao Yojana was launched to improve the sex ratio and to improve the efficiency of welfare services intended for girls, especially in states like Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Punjab and Bihar.
4) Swacch Bharat or Clean India which promoted clean streets and strived to make India open defecation free by providing toilets at every household is another project which has been highly successful.
5) Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana which has a total of projects worth Rs 900 crore in its first phase is another successful venture which succeeded in fulfilling the housing needs of people from around the country.
6) Ayushman Bharat Yojana/Modicare is another flagship health insurance scheme which will benefit at least 50 crore citizens of the country by providing them with cashless treatment up to Rs 5 lakhs.
7) The Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana is a government backed insurance scheme which gives farmers the option to insure their crops on their own with the government subsidizing the premium, this has helped lakhs of farmers across India in various states.
8) Make in India scheme succeeded in bringing prestigious companies like Apple and Samsung to set up manufacturing units in India and it continues to draw many more bringing in investment and jobs to India.
9) The attitude of soldiers in general at the borders changed with PM Modi coming to power in the centre, the security forces at border areas are now given free hand to do whatever they can to protect themselves and India.
10) Surgical strikes conducted on Pakistani soil by the Indian Army was a bold move which proved that PM Modi led central government has dealt with Pakistan in the right way. India had faced countless attacks from Pakistan during the Congress era, a surgical strike by the Indian Army which had the backing of the central government was necessary.
11) Another surgical strike by the Indian Army happened in Myanmar where the Indian soldiers attacked the rebel groups by crossing Myanmar border. It sent a message that India was no longer going to take orders with folded hands but was ready to fight back.
12) The Doklam crisis which heightened the tensions in India and Pakistan was another point which showed the problems which the Congress government had gifted us for generations. China was acting as a habitual aggressor.
13) Indian Army this time was backed by the PM Modi led central government which showed China the changed stance of India and its army. Doklam standoff being resolved without the loss of a single life is a mighty win for India.
14) Infiltration from Bangladesh had been a cause of concern from India since ages, the NDA government has tried to settle this by increasing patrols across the border areas which has boosted the morale of Indian citizens.
15) The Indian Army has been modernized and provided with better arms and ammunitions, important objects such as bulletproof jackets.
16) Another surgical strike in Myanmar to curb the rebel forces was carried out by the Indian Army, this broke the backbone of the rebel outfits which have not recovered since.
17) GST is perhaps the biggest economic reform in the history of independent India after the economic liberalization of 1991. The homogenization of indirect tax across the country is impacting all sections of economic domain. Now businesses could expand nationwide without any policy hurdles. GST will also improve tax net of the country. It will help in economic integration of the country.
18) IBC: Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code took India in a phase of true capitalism. Before 1991 India had ‘socialism with entry’ with license-quota raj and post 1991 we had ‘capitalism without exit’ due to not ‘strong laws’ for insolvency. IBC brought ‘rule based capitalist’ economy in the country.
19) RERA: Housing was one of the major problems in the country. The sector was largely unregulated and was avenue to turn black money into white. Property prices in Indian cities were comparable to that of London and New York due to this. RERA is gradually improving real estate sector and housing has become affordable since the last two or three years.
20) Ease of doing Business: The economic reforms by Modi government improved ease of doing business ranking of the country to more than 30 ranks in the last four years. The ease of doing business is an important indicator used by foreign investors and companies to decide whether to enter in a country to do business or not.
21) Bank Recapitalization: The balance sheet of banks has become unhealthy in the last few years due to unsustainable lending and NPA problem. Government has promised to recapitalize the banks to improve credit growth.
22) Increase in tax net: The number of total Income tax Return (ITR) filers has gone up to 6.92 crores compared to 5.61 crores in 2016-2017 due to demonetization, which indicates whopping growth by 26 percent. The number of taxpayers and tax collection has grown exponentially under the Modi government due to steps like demonetization, GST, and crackdown on black money.
23) Privatization and divestment: Modi government has made significant divestment in loss making public sector units and even privatized some of them. In the upcoming years, the target for income from divestment is very high.
24) Shell firms crackdown: Shell firms were most used medium of tax evasion and illegal transactions. Sometimes investigation agencies found that more than 10 offices were registered at the same address. So, the government deregistered more than 2 lakh companies which had not filed IT return for last two years from Registrar of Companies in last fiscal year. Even in this more two lakh companies are on radar. Geo tagging and data analytics is being used for further crackdown on shell companies and illegal transactions.
25) DBT: Direct benefit transfer revolutionized the subsidy transfer in the country. The government always faced the problem of corruption in supplying public goods. The link through AADHAR and direct subsidy transfer has eliminated corruption from the system. Earlier government used to say that if we transfer 100 rupees for poor then only 10 reaches to them, now all 100 reach directly to bank account of poor.
26) The National Register of Citizens draft in Assam is another achievement of the NDA, the NRC aims to weed out the illegal Bangladeshi immigrants from the state. NRC draft had been promised by the UPA but was never carried out by them. It took PM Modi to give the go ahead to the draft.
27) Wiping out Naxal influence from districts of various states has been another big achievement of the NDA government, internal security was given priority and any threat to it was dealt harshly leading to the surrender of many top Naxal leaders.
28) Despite the opposition and leftist cabal trying to pollute the environment and disrupt the normal life in the country numerous times, peace reined under PM Modi. Riots were prevented or contained and loss of life and property was minimized.
29) Railway accidents have been at an all time low and the efficiency with which railways function have drastically improved.
30) The massive electrification drive started by PM Modi has made electricity available to all villages of India, 100% electrification of India is not just a dream anymore but is now a reality which is benefiting the last person in the Indian society.
31) Strong implementation of measures to stop child labour and to improve literacy rates has changed the way in which the next generation of India grows up. This also includes measures to teach students about Indian history which the earlier textbooks had carefully chosen to leave uncovered.
32) The increase in road connectivity under the Modi government has been phenomenal to say the least, 40kms of roads are being constructed on a daily basis under the NDA regime which is more than twice the pace achieved by UPA at its peak.
33) Direct transfer of subsidies has also succeeded in hacking away at the corruption which existed in the country. The subsidies are finally reaching the people they were meant for rather than filling the pockets of some government official.
34) Bringing back the status quo in the SC/ST act was another step by the Modi government which made it clear that every decision by the NDA was taken keeping in mind the welfare of the citizens.
35) One of the significant improvements have been seen in the Railway sector. Indian Railways has introduced First Double Stack Dwarf Container Service to maximize efficiency and regain an edge in cargo transportation. The cost of transportation will be reduced by half with the introduction of dwarf containers.
36) India Railways catering has seen a big improvement, and action is taken if food served to passengers on-board is not up-to the mark.
37) The Railways is all set to get its 800 km stretch of dedicated freight corridor which will again help the transport of materials at a faster and cheaper rate.
38) Railways has been laying great emphasis on improvement in Railway infrastructure in the North East region. Out of 8 States of North Eastern Region, rail network connectivity now exists in 7 states. For, Sikkim, the new line project Sivok-Rangpo (44 km) has been sanctioned.
39) When it comes to construction of national highways, the Modi government has built 28,531 km of national highways in its four years since 2014-15, which is 73 percent more against the 16,505 km achieved by the Manmohan Singh government in four years till 2013-14.The rate of highway construction touched almost 27 km per day in the period of April to June this year, as against 25 km per day in the same period last year.
40) Air connectivity has improved a lot mainly because of UDAAN scheme. According to the data, Indian airlines carried more than 12 crore passengers in the fiscal year 2017-18 against 6.1 crore passengers in the fiscal year of 2013-14. The compound annual growth rate (CAGR) in the number of passengers is a whopping 19 percent. Under the Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS) launched in April 2017, the government is working to make air travel affordable and increase the connectivity in tier two and tier three cities of the country. As many as 43 cities are expected to get regular connectivity under this new scheme and a dozen airports where limited but irregular flights operate will be connected.
41) PM Modi is going to visit Sikkim to inaugurate state’s first airport on September 23. It would be a huge boost to India’s aviation sector and it would also be of great help for Sikkim to attract more tourists once the airport gets operational.
42) The Sagaramala project was launched to boost connectivity through water. The project is a $130 billion initiative and aims to set up new mega ports, modernization of India’s existing ports, and development of 14 Coastal Employment Zones (CEZs).
43) In May, PM Modi inaugurated 135km long Eastern Peripheral Expressway. The expressway was completed in a record time of about 500 days against the scheduled target of 910 days and it is also a fully access-controlled six-lane expressway. Entry and exit on the expressway is through designated interchanges only. The Expressway has 4 major bridges, 46 minor bridges, 3 flyovers, 7 inter-changes, 221 underpasses, 8 ROBs, and 114 culverts. This project has generated employment opportunities of about 50 lakh man-days.
44) In May, PM Modi also inaugurated the first phase of the Delhi-Meerut Expressway, stretching from Nizamuddin Bridge to Delhi UP Border completed in record time of 18 months at a cost of about Rs 841.50 crore. It includes a 6-lane Expressway and 4+4 Service lanes, i.e. 14-lane facility from Nizamuddin Bridge in Delhi to UP Border. This is the first National Highway in the country with 14 lanes. This project is the best example of ‘where there is will there is way’. The foundation stone of the project was laid on 31 December 2015. The total length of the project is 82 kilometers of which the first 27.74 kms will be 14-laned, while the rest will be 6-lane expressway.
45) Bharatmala Pariyojana- This is an ambitious project of 5.35 lakh crore. The government aims to create 44 new national corridors, more or less double the movement of freight on highways, connect as many as 550 districts using trunk roads.
46) Other major infrastructure and development works include Chenani-Nashri Tunnel, Mumbai Trans Harbour Sea link, Bogibeel bridge, Kandla- Gorakhpur gas pipeline, Railway bridge over Chenab Katra-Banihal line.
47) Bhutan was PM Modi’s first destination after becoming PM of India. With his astute diplomacy he brought Bhutan back under Indian influence, also brought number of hydropower deals, and also ensured that Bhutan closes its doors for China.
48) India is not a signatory to Non-Proliferation Treaty and despite this Australia has agreed to export Uranium to India. And, it has already sent the first Uranium shipment to India.
49) Narendra Modi became the first PM of India to visit Israel where he made many key agreements in the areas of defense, agriculture, technology, and also by-passed Ramallah.
50) From look East policy to Act East policy. The NDA government entered into negotiations for arms sale to Vietnam. Improved defense Cooperation with Singapore and also increased its naval presence in the region.
51) PM Modi also traveled to Myanmar for the ninth East Asian summit. There are many development and infrastructure projects going on northeast with help of the investment from the ASEAN countries. It is bringing much needed development to the region.
52) India sent it’s first consignment of wheat to Afghanistan through Chabahar port in Iran. It is a landmark achievement and a step closer to operationalize the new transit route, bypassing Pakistan. It also extends the influence of India beyond Pakistan.
53) Exemplary Social media presence of Ministry of External affairs. Just one tweet and the ministry is there to help out the Indians who are in distress at any place in the globe.
54) Strengthened US-India relationship- PM Modi invited Barack Obama to be the Chief Guest at India’s Republic day parade in January 2015. The new American president Donald Trump continued to improve ties with India and has also heavily cut down the amount of aid offered to Pakistan by USA.
55) Operation Raahat in 2015 in which India rescued over 5,000 Indian nationals and citizens from 41 countries from war-hit Yemen was a feat of diplomacy and courage in itself.
56) PM Modi showed Canadian Prime Minister and Khalistani sympathizer Justin Trudeau his right place by giving him the royal snub which led to downfall in his image at the global level.