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Ahead of the November 12 Himachal Pradesh polls, Prime Minister Narendra Modi made a fervent appeal to voters to script history by re-electing the Bharatiya Janata Party, saying every vote cast for the "lotus" will enhance his strength.
While the hustings for the assembly polls in the hill state ended on Thursday, the Bharatiya Janata Party cadre will deliver a letter carrying Modi's appeal along with his photo and signature to every household in Himachal Pradesh in the next two days.
"I have full faith that like last time this time too you will all bless the BJP. Every vote you cast in favour of the lotus (BJP's poll symbol) will enhance my strength," the prime minister said in his letter in Hindi.
Modi said at a time when people are about to vote for the future of the state, "I want to offer you gratitude for your blessings and affections."
He said the land of Himachal is so spiritual that even after one visit, a person can experience its splendour for a lifetime.
"I have had the good fortune of living amid you for many years. It is my lifelong duty to serve Himachal to repay your debt.
"The BJP considers Himachal a land of faith, spirituality and culture. That is the reason the BJP government has always believed in the service of the state. The youth of Himachal have not only displayed tremendous courage in the service of the country but have also made several sacrifices," he said.
The prime minister said over the past years, the BJP's "double-engine governments" at the Centre and the state have worked for the development of Himachal Pradesh, especially its long-neglected border regions.
"I want to see this development campaign touch the heights of the skies like the peaks of the Himalayas. I urge you earnestly to let the development journey of the state continue.
"This request is also because when I came to the Centre in 2014 and there was a government of another party in the state, they did not allow central schemes to progress here," he said.
The journey of Himachal's development began in 2017 when the BJP government was elected here, the prime minister said in his letter, saying, "We do not have to stop this journey."
Ever since the "double-engine government" took shape in Himachal, several schemes like Ujjwala, toilets and tap water connections in every rural household were aggressively implemented to ease the living of women and girls, he said. "We are reaping the benefits of these efforts."
"Today, the hill state has become a centre of progress and tourism instead of migration and troubles. We are also developing infrastructure related to agriculture and horticulture in the state and work is underway to raise job opportunities for the youth through industrialization," Modi also said in his appeal to the people of Himachal Pradesh.
The BJP cadre in the state intend to take this prime minister's letter door to door over the next two days.
"We will deliver this message of the prime minister to every person and household in the state in the next two days and reach out to 15 lakh households," said the BJP's co-in-charge for Himachal Pradesh Sanjay Tandon.
He visited several households in Shimla and handed over Modi's message.
He said the BJP held 20 rallies across the state with the party's national chief JP Nadda, Union Ministers Amit Shah, Anurag Thakur, Smriti Irani and Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand chief ministers Yogi Adityanath and Pushkar Singh Dhami campaigning in the state on the last day.
"The swing factor is visible in the state," he said, claiming the BJP will win the election with a two-third majority.
Himachal Pradesh chief minister Jairam Thakur also addressed poll rallies and claimed that the people of the state will script history by re-electing the BJP in the state, just as other states like Uttarakhand, Goa and Uttar Pradesh had done.