Prime Minister Narendra Modi said Maharashtra had broken all records and “this was the biggest victory of any party or alliance pre-poll in the last 50 years”. Maharashtra’s biggest message after Haryana polls is unity; ‘ek hain to safe hain’ has become the ‘mahamantra’ of the country, Modi added.

Addressing party members at the BJP headquarters on November 23, the Prime Minister said that development, good governance and true social justice had won in Maharashtra, while lies and deception were badly lost.

“..The sentiment of ‘Ek hain toh safe hain’ has taught a lesson to those who push people to fight in the name of caste, religion, language and region. This punished them. Tribals, OBCs, Dalits, all sections of society voted for the BJP-NDA. This is a major blow to the thinking of the entire ecosystem of Congress and the INDI alliance, which was running an agenda to divide the society…” he said.

Modi said: “Today, negative politics has been defeated. Today, “Parivarvad” has been defeated. Today, Maharashtra has strengthened its resolve for a developed India. I congratulate all the BJP and NDA workers across the country…”

Results of by-elections in many states are also in… Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Rajasthan gave strong support to the BJP. The people of Assam have once again expressed their confidence in the BJP. We have also seen success in Madhya Pradesh. Support for the NDA has increased in Bihar. This shows that the country now only wants development…, added the Prime Minister.

Some people resorted to treason and tried to create instability in Maharashtra, which the voters punished, he said in his speech, adding that the ‘INDI Alliance’ is incapable of understanding the country’s mood that voters are on the side of those who put ‘nation’ first, not with those who put ‘kursi first’.

Addressing the Congress, the Prime Minister said the ‘shahi parivar’ of the grand old party was spreading the poison of casteism in his greed for power and his priority was only the family and not the people of the country. The urban naxalism of the Congress has become a challenge for the country, its remote control is happening outside the country, he said.

PM Modi said this is the third consecutive time that Maharashtra has blessed the BJP-led alliance. For the third time, the BJP has emerged as the largest party in Maharashtra. “The BJP got more seats than the Congress and its allies. Maharashtra is the sixth state in the country to have given mandate to the BJP three times in a row…” he said.

The Prime Minister said that the Maharashtra elections also show that only one Constitution will work in India and it was given to the people of the country by BR Ambedkar. The Congress and its allies are once again trying to create an Article 370 wall of the Constitution in Jammu and Kashmir, he said.

“I want to tell the Congress and its allies that no force in the world can bring back Article 370 and insult our Constitution,” Modi said.

He said the Congress and its allies had shown double-facedness on various issues, including that of the Wafq Council. “The Waqf Board is a glaring example of the Congress’ appeasement policy. There is no place for Waqf law in the Constitution,” he said, adding that such practices have distanced the party from the sentiments of the people.

He outlined the future of Maharashtra under the BJP-led NDA, saying, “In the next five years, Maharashtra will move forward with the mantra ‘vikas bhi virasat bhi’ (development with heritage).

(With contribution from agencies)