Modi tells his party MPs to connect with Dalits, OBCs
Asks party leaders to observe Swachhta Diwas on April 18
LUCKNOW:Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday tasked Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) lawmakers across the country with an eight-point action plan beginning with an April 12 hunger strike against Parliament disruption and followed by the party’s plan to connect with Dalits on April 14 — BR Ambedkar’s birth anniversary — through the gram swaraj campaign.
Modi’s direction came during a conference call with his party’s parliamentarians. He had earlier referred to the gram swaraj campaign in his March 25 radio address, Mann ki Baat.
The eight-point action plan for BJP lawmakers that Modi referred to in his 47-minute phone call asked leaders to observe Swachhta Diwas (cleanliness day) on April 18, Panchayati Raj Diwas on April 24, a Gram Shakti Abhiyaan on April 28, an Ayushman Bharat Day on April 30, Kisan Kalyan (or farmers’ welfare day) on May 2 and a Swayam Aajiwika (labourers’ and daily wage earners’ day) on May 5. The Prime Minister would now reconnect with party lawmakers through a video conferencing on April 22, BJP leaders confirmed. The BJP lawmakers would also be able to get connected to the PM through the Narendra Modi app, party leaders said. “Modiji wants us to ensure that the party’s elected representatives stay in touch with the masses, make them aware of the various government plans. For instance, under Ayushman Bharat, financial help up to ~8 lakh can be provided. So an awareness campaign is to be undertaken in this regard. His telephonic conversation covered all the sections of the society, farmers, daily wage earners, labourers and rural masses. He cares for all,” BJP’s Uttar Pradesh
general secretary Vijay Bahadur Pathak said.
Under the Gram Shakti Abhiyaan on April 28, the BJP leaders and lawmakers have been tasked with making people aware of the Saubhagya Yojana scheme that provides for free power connection to people living below the poverty line.
The scheme also comes with a ‘power connection kit’ complete with switches and bulbs for the poor – a scheme that the PM wants the BJP lawmakers to popularise among the masses.
“It was great to talk to Modiji, the leader whom the world looks up to. It was a great feeling to receive a call from him,” said Brajesh Prajapati, the BJP MLA from Tindwari assembly constituency. Prajapati was among several BJP lawmakers to have received Modi’s call that came at 11.05 am. Siddharthnagar MLA Satish Chandra Dwivedi was among those lawmakers from UP to have received Modi’s call.
The PM also took three queries from party lawmakers from various parts of the country including Maharashtra. The UP unit of the BJP has decided to launch a massive door to door campaign from April 14 to May 5 to connect with rural parts of the state, especially those where OBCs and Dalits dominate. The state unit of the party had asked all its 311 lawmakers to remain alert for a phone call from the Prime Minister but only a few received the call.