PM Modi to join BJP fast against House disruptions

The BJP confirmed on Tuesday that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will join BJP leaders and workers to observe a day’s fast on April 12 against the Opposition’s repeated disruptions during the Budget Session.

Mr Modi will carry on with his daily routine of meeting people, officials, and clearing files in his office on Thursday, but on an empty stomach. BJP president Amit Shah will also join the protest, but in Karnataka where parties are campaigning for Assembly polls a month away. The BJP had announced last week that all its lawmakers would observe a day’s fast against Parliament disruptions, but the Prime Minister’s participation was confirmed only on Tuesday.

The Congress had countered the ruling party’s attempt to garner political mileage out of the politics of fast by immediately announcing that they would observe a fast three days before the BJP to promote communal harmony in the country.

But in politics, early bird doesn’t always get the worm.

Having learnt a lesson from the embarrassing photographs of Congress leaders enjoying plates of chhole bhature before sitting on the fast in Rajghat, BJP Lok Sabha members were busy on Tuesday orchestrating the optics for their April 12 protest fast to be embarrassment- free.

The list of dos and don’ts issued to party workers includes: Avoid eating at public places, and even if you do, then definitely do not let people click pictures as they have a tendency of going viral.