Navsari: Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Tuesday that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)’s workers had continued to follow the path of public service despite receiving electoral support for several years, saying they had not become “intoxicated with power”.
Addressing a public meeting in Gujarat’s Navsari after the inauguration of a BJP office, PM Modi noted that the district had repeatedly showcased its support for the party, with several generations of voters now backing the party.
“Think about it: for so many years, you have given the BJP votes in abundance. You have not looked back. Perhaps two or three generations have now become voters supporting the BJP,” he said.
The Prime Minister added, “But the speciality is that even the smallest BJP worker has not become intoxicated with power. After receiving so much love for so many years, they have still firmly followed the path of service.”
PM Modi referred to Navsari’s electoral record, recalling that voters in the district had sent Union Jal Shakti Minister C.R. Paatil to Parliament with what he described as the “highest number of votes” in the country.
“The whole country wonders, where is Navsari? You are people who do such remarkable things,” he said.
He added that sustained electoral success should not lead party workers to become complacent.
“When someone achieves so much and receives so much love, one might think, ‘Now let us lean back a little and rest.’ But no, this is the Bharatiya Janata Party. For us, rest is forbidden,” the Prime Minister said.
He added that the organisation’s work is not confined to electoral politics and that BJP workers continued to undertake public-service activities at the grassroots.
PM Modi cited cleanliness drives across Navsari district as an example, saying campaigns had been conducted village by village with public participation.
He said that government agencies could carry out routine work, but changes achieved through public participation were more lasting.
“It is natural for the government to carry out small and large works through government mechanisms. But when change comes through the strength of ordinary people, that change becomes permanent. That change creates new confidence,” he added.
The Prime Minister also linked the BJP’s organisational culture to a broader emphasis on service, saying positions, power, prestige and the organisation itself should be viewed as instruments of public service.
“For us, the path of service; power too for service; the organisation too for service; positions too for service; prestige too for service; the system too for service; service of every individual,” he said.
The Prime Minister said the public office inaugurated in Navsari should carry forward that approach and serve as a point of contact for citizens.
He added that the public office should become “a refuge for those in distress” and that “a ray of hope against injustice” should emerge from it.
“Constructing a building is not difficult,” he said, adding that the more important task is to expand the tradition of service associated with the organisation and reach people who had remained outside its fold.
PM Modi said the office should be inclusive and should work to address the problems of all sections of society.
“It should be inclusive. It should be beneficial to all. It should work to resolve the problems of every section of society. When such a role is established, we change the situation,” the Prime Minister added.
He concluded by calling for continued work for Navsari’s development and urged BJP workers to regard the district as one family, saying every citizen should be treated as someone to whom they owed a responsibility of service.
