BJP not just election winning machine: PM
COVID REVIEW MEET Says selfless service, balance, restraint, consensus, positivity and dialogue have been the party’s mantras
NEWDELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi underlined on Saturday the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)’s commitment to selfless service, and said it is not just an “election-winning machine” but a means of serving people. “We consider power as a means of service. We have never considered power as a means of personal gain. Selfless service has been our motto and part of our values,” Modi said in a virtual address to BJP workers.
Modi, who took stock of the work of the BJP state units amid the Covid-19 pandemic, said commentators see political organisations from an electoral point of view. For the BJP, the organisation means service, support for everyone, and happiness and prosperity for all, he added.
Appreciating party workers for reaching out to several families with aid despite the infection risk, Modi said it has always been the nation first for the BJP.
NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi underlined on Saturday the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)’s commitment to selfless service, and said it is not just an “election-winning machine” but a means of serving people. “We consider power as a means of service. We have never considered power as a means of personal gain. Selfless service has been our motto and part of our values,” Modi said in a virtual address to BJP workers.
Modi, who took stock of the work of the BJP state units amid the Covid-19 pandemic, said commentators see political organisations from an electoral point of view. For the BJP, the organisation means service, support for everyone, and happiness and prosperity for all, he added.
Jagat Prakash Nadda, the party chief, had tasked the BJP workers with feeding 50 million families during the Covid-19 lockdown.
Modi appreciated the efforts of the party workers in reaching out with aid despite the infection risk. He said it has always been the nation first for the BJP.
“The idea behind the genesis of the Jana Sangh and the BJP was to make our country happy and prosperous and it is with this inspiration that we came into politics.”
Modi called for the need to document the party’s work in helping people, saying it will serve as an inspiration and also be a reference for how service was provided on a large scale, overcoming challenges. “A challenge was turned into an opportunity,” he said.
Modi said a multilingual digital booklet showcasing the work undertaken from the district to the national level should be launched on late Jana Sangh leader Deen Dayal Upadhyaya’s birth anniversary on September 25.
“At a time when all were trying to save themselves, you went out to help those in need. In many cities, our workers knew there is danger but yet to fulfil their responsibilities kept working. Many of our workers died,” he said.
He called selfless service, balance, restraint, consensus, positivity, harmony, and dialogue the BJP’s mantras and urged his colleagues to consider the experience gained while undertaking the work as a chance to understand the society.
“At the time of elections, we go to people and hear all kinds of feedback,” he said.
“But this time when you went to people, your experience would have been different . ... you will see you will have felt that society has given you so much love and respect. This is the love and energy that did not allow you to tire. We need to understand the power of society. It has to be imbibed,” he added.
Responding to Modi’s comments, Congress spokesman Jaiveer Shergill said: “Death of 100 plus migrant labourers [during the lockdown] due to complete apathy of the central government’s East India Company approach of charging railway tickets from crores of labourers struggling to go home, raising 838% and 230% duty on diesel and petrol in biggest economic recession proves the BJP is the servant of politics and not the servant of people. The BJP believes in the use and throw policy towards the voters.”
Political commentator Abhay Deshpande said the references in Modi’s remarks are aimed at blunting the discontent towards the government.
“In Maharashtra, for instance, the BJP is in the opposition but is claiming to have distributed food packets to lakhs of people. It has made itself visible, even if there was not much done on the ground. This, in a way, is an attempt to tone down the anger that the migrant workers or people, in general, would have towards the government following the lockdown.”