With new slogan, Modi sets tone for 2019 polls
NATIONAL EXECUTIVE MEET Lays emphasis on stronger India with ‘Ajay Bharat, Atal BJP’ NEWDELHI:
Setting the tone for the 2019 parliamentary elections, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday coined a new slogan — ‘Ajay Bharat, Atal BJP’ — highlighting his party’s commitment to India’s development.
The new slogan means an India that is victorious and cannot be subjugated by anyone, and a party which is committed to its principles, Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad told the media after Modi’s closed-door speech at the BJP National Executive Meet in New Delhi.
The slogan also pays rich tributes to former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
Taking a dig at efforts by opposition parties to stitch together a grand alliance against the BJP, Modi said, “People who do not see eye to eye are thinking of a grand alliance. It is vindication of our work.”
He said no one, not even smaller parties, was ready to accept the leadership of the Con- gress in such an alliance.
Describing his vision for the country, the PM said, “I want the country to be affluent, but its bedrock should be simplicity.”
Confident of 2019 win, BJP president Amit Shah said his party will rule the country for the next 50 years.
“Amit Shah said the party will win the 2019 elections because of its performance and then no one can dethrone the BJP for the next 50 years,” Prasad told reporters.
Prasad said the projection was based on the work and achievement of the party-ruled government at the Centre and not arrogance.
“The politics of the county is now progressing towards performance and hope,” he said, quoting Shah.
The national executive meeting affords an opportunity for the BJP to take stock of the political situation and discuss strategy for the elections in the face of Opposition attempts to cobble together a broad-based coalition to take on the ruling National Democratic Alliance.
The opposition has focused on issues such as suspected irregularities in a deal to purchase fighter jets from Dassault Aviation of France, perceived farm distress and alleged economic mismanagement in the implementation of polices such as the invalidation of high-value banknotes and the goods and services tax.
I want the country to be affluent, but its bedrock should be simplicity
NARENDRA MODI, Prime Minister