As the Lok Sabha result comes out with the BJP not being able to cross the majority mark, PM Narendra Modi for the first time refrained from mentioning his name during his address to the BJP workers at the headquarters.
Although on one hand this is the first time that Modi has become the only Prime Minister after Nehru to become the third time consecutive PM, on the other, the BJP couldn’t reach the numbers they expected. As per the data, in several rallies during campaign Modi had mentioned his name 438 times. But this time, he repeatedly evoked BJP and NDA not the Modi government.
Notably, he chose to thank TDP chief Chandrababu Naidu and JDU chief and Bihar CM Nitish Kumar whom the opposition bloc might have clinched a deal with, to claim the stake of the government. Rahul Gandhi addressing a press conference said that tomorrow he would meet the INDIA Bloc members to finalise whether they would connect to NDA allies to form the government.
This also comes with Modi's silence over Ram Mandir. In the whole speech neither did he say anything regarding minorities, nor did he even mention Lord Ram, something that has been a staple issue for him in the last few months.
Rather, he again went back to the developmental plank and spoke about roads, water connections and rations. He again got back to the slogan of Sabka Saath Sabka Vikas that he evoked during 2019.
His calling of himself as Modi was absent, there is speculation that their failure to reach the projected numbers actually pushed him to change his tone.
