Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said terrorism’s weapon was IED, while the power of a democracy was voter ID as he cast his vote in Ahmedabad in the presence of BJP chief Amit Shah.
Modi, who paid a visit to his mother to seek her blessings, urged voters to exercise their franchise. “Like IED is the weapon of terrorists, in a democracy, voter ID is your weapon. I appeal to first-time voters to come out and vote for a decisive government. It is their century and therefore I emphasise that they vote,” Modi said after voting in Ranip.
The Prime Minister also equated voting with taking a holy dip in the Kumbh. “It gives a sense of purity. India’s voters understand who they should vote for,” he said.
Earlier, Modi also tweeted to urge voters to come out in “record numbers” and cast their vote in the third phase of the Lok Sabha elections.
Gujarat, the home turf of Modi and saffron party’s national president Amit Shah, remains a crucial state for the BJP. In the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, the BJP had won all 26 Lok Sabha seats in Gujarat and BJP has claimed that it will retain all seats this time too and the state will re-elect its ‘own man’ as the Prime Minister.
Amid chants of “Modi, Modi”, the Prime Minister came out after casting his ballot, showed his inked finger and acknowledged the people gathered outside the booth. He also walked a little distance as people continued to chant his name.
Modi was among the first high-profile voters to exercise their franchise in Gujarat. The Prime Minister arrived at the polling booth in an open jeep as he greeted people gathered on the road.
Before casting his vote, Modi visited his mother in Gujarat’s capital Gandhinagar and sought her blessings. Photographs tweeted by news agency ANI showed the Prime Minister touching nearly 99-year-old Heeraben Patel’s feet as she blesses him. She gave her blessings by putting a tilak on his forehead and gifting a coconut and a red scarf
All the 26 parliamentary constituencies in Prime Minister Modi’s home state of Gujarat is polling in the third phase of ongoing general elections and the contest is primarily between the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Congress. The BJP won all 26 seats in 2014.
