"BJP to expand Vande Bharat, bullet train projects": PM Modi

Lok Sabha Elections 2024: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday promised that his government will expand Vande Bharat trains to every corner of the country and charted out the government's plan to expand bullet train services, adding that three new trains will run in north, east and south India. "BJP will expand Vande Bharat trains to every corner of the country. Three models of Vande Bharat will run in the country - Vande Bharat Sleeper, Vande Bharat Chaircar and Vande Bharat Metro. Today the work of the Ahmedabad Mumbai Bullet Train is going on in full swing and is almost reaching completion. In the same way, one Bullet Train will run in North India, one Bullet Train in South India and one Bullet Train in Eastern India. Survey work for this will also be started soon," PM Modi said after the announcement of the manifesto, 'Sankalp Patra'. Coming down heavily on the corrupt leaders, the Prime Minister said that strict action will continue against the corrupt.
"Now the poor are getting their rights and those who looted the poor are going to jail. Such strict action will continue against the corrupt, this is Modi's guarantee. In the national interest, the BJP doesn't walk away from taking 'bade' (big) and 'kade' (strict) decisions. For us, the country is bigger than the party," PM Modi said.
"Nari Shakti Vandan Act has now become a law. BJP removed Article 370 and we brought CAA. We will move forward more rapidly following the mantra of Reform-Perform-Transform," the Prime Minister added.

CAA, passed by Parliament on December 11, 2019, and getting the President's assent the following day, met with protests all across the country. The CAA came into effect on January 10, 2020.
PM Modi said that the ruling party will continue to move forward with the resolve of 'One Nation, One Election' and considers implementing the Uniform Civil Code significant for the country.
"We will create the necessary infrastructure and ecosystem for strengthening good governance, digital governance and data governance in the country. We will move ahead with the resolve of The BJP, in the same way, considers implementing the Uniform Civil Code significant for the country," he said.

UCC is contemplated as a common set of laws for citizens governing personal matters such as marriage, divorce, inheritance, and adoption, irrespective of religion, sex, gender or caste. Notably, Uttarakhand became the first state in India to implement UCC earlier this year. He further noted that the BJP will start working on its 'Sankalp Patra' immediately after the result of Lok Sabha polls, i.e., June 4. "Work on BJP's 'Sankalp Patra' will begin immediately after the June 4 results. The government has already started working on the 100-day action plan. The ambition of the people of the country is Modi's mission. We saw the success of Chandrayaan. Now we will experience the pride of Gaganyaan. We just saw India welcoming the world to the G20 and now we will make all efforts to host the Olympics," PM Modi said.

The Prime Minister said that the BJP will strengthen the foundation of India through three kinds of infrastructure, including social, digital and physical infrastructure. "BJP is going to strengthen the foundation of India of the 21st century through three kinds of infrastructure - 1) social infrastructure, 2) digital infrastructure, 3) physical infrastructure. We are opening new educational institutions for social infrastructure...Under physical infrastructure, we are modernising highways, railways, airways, and waterways across the country. Under digital infrastructure, we are expanding 5G network, working on 6G and for keeping Industry 4.0 in mind we are building the digital infrastructure," he said.

The BJP had appointed a manifesto committee headed by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh that met twice to deliberate on its contents after the party had launched multiple exercises, including massive campaigns across the country to seek people's suggestions before the release of the 'Sankalp Patra'. The BJP received over 1.5 million suggestions for its manifesto, including more than 400,000 through the NaMo app and over 1.1 million through videos. The Lok Sabha polls in India are scheduled to take place from April 19, 2024, to June 1, 2024, to choose the 543 representatives for the 18th Lok Sabha. These elections will be conducted over seven phases, with the outcome being declared on June 4.