New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday made an outreach to minorities and said the vote bank politics over the decades have only played a ‘chhal (deceptive game)’ with the poor and the minorities and the onus is now on the newly-elected NDA regime to work for all sections of the people (Sab ka saath, sab ka vikas).

In an hour-long address after being elected as the parliamentary party leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party and the ruling National Democratic Alliance, Mr Modi gave a new slogan for the dispensation and said, “We have worked for Sabka saath, sabka vikas, now we have to strive for Sabka Vishwas (trust of all).’

He stated that politics hitherto had only pushed a system that ‘betrayed’ the poor and minorities.

Mr Modi said, “Just like the poor, the minorities of this country too has been cheated. Minorities have been kept in fear by spreading a ‘kalpanik bhay (imaginary fears) and only exploited in elections. We have to end this cycle.”

BJP and NDA lawmakers, the Prime Minister said, should not fall for fame and ‘VIP culture’.

Modi, who is the first Prime Minister to be re-elected with full majority since 1971, said, “My Government is dedicated to the dalits, the poor, the victims, the underprivileged and the tribals of the country. Today, again, I want to say that in five years we did not let ourselves lose sight of that”.

The Prime Minister said the poor and the common people – Janata Janardhan will be ‘Ishawar Ka roop’
(like God) for him and his government.

Before he came to the podium, the Prime Minister bowed before the ‘Constitution of India’ at the Central Hall of Parliament and touched it with his forehead.

Mr Modi was, earlier, unanimously elected as the Leader of the BJP Parliamentary party and the NDA on Saturday.
The name of Mr Modi as BJP Parliamentary party leader was proposed by its president Amit Shah, which was seconded by senior leaders Nitin Gadkari and Rajnath Singh.

Mr Modi’s name was again proposed as the NDA leader by SAD patron Parkash Singh Badal, which was endorsed by Janata Dal (United) chief Nitish Kumar, Shiv Sena’s Uddhav Thackeray, Lok Janshakti Party’s Ram Vilas Paswan, All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazgham co-convenor Edappadi Palaniswami, among other heads of allies.

Party veterans Lal Krishna Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi were also present at the first NDA meet after the victory of Team Modi in Parliament’s Central Hall.

Among others, the Chief Ministers of Nagaland, Meghalaya and Tripura were also present on the occasion.