PM tells BJP to gear up for state polls
Asks party leaders, cadre to reach out to people, explain benefits of new farm laws
Reiterating the BJP’s mantra of “Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas”, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday asked his party leaders to continue working towards that goal. Mr Modi inaugurated the BJP national office-bearers’ day-long meeting, where the party passed a resolution firmly backing the three controversial agricultural laws laws — over which some farmers’ unions have been protesting for almost two months. The BJP resolution hailed the Modi government for its foreign policy, especially with regard to China, India’s Covid-19 management, labour reforms, the “all inclusive” Union Budget and the government’s resolve of an “Atma Nirbhar Bharat” ahead of India emerging from the pandemic which has “set new limits for the country’s self-empowerment”. The party leaders also deliberated on the coming Assembly polls in four states and one Union territory. The meeting, chaired by BJP president J.P. Nadda, was attended by national office-bearers, state unit chiefs, organisational secretaries and state in-charges.
Notwithstanding the ongoing protest by some farmers’ unions over the three farm laws for nearly two months, the resolution claimed that the farm reforms were necessary for the welfare of India’s farmers and had been in demand for a long time. Mr Modi asked party leaders to reach out to people explaining the benefits of the farm reforms. The
■party attacked the Opposition, in particular the Congress, for spreading “lies” against the three laws.
Hailing Mr Modi for “introducing India to the world as a proud and victorious nation in the fight against Covid”, the resolution mentioned how some Opposition parties, mainly Congress, was “highly insensitive and disappointing” and made “several attempts at spreading propaganda and hopelessness in the country”. The BJP also lauded scientists, experts and the efforts involved in the manufacturing of the Covid-19 vaccines. The resolution also mentioned the social work “Seva hi Sangathan” carried out by party leaders, workers and volunteers during the pandemic and the post-lockdown period to assist and help people from all walks of life.
On the foreign policy issue, the resolution noted that under Mr Modi’s leadership, India’s foreign policy will abide by the principle that it “would neither be meek, nor unnecessarily aggressive in dealing with any nation” and India’s position has been “clear on the situation that has developed with China” that it will not “let any expansionist strategy succeed on its borders” and that under Mr Modi’s leadership “India has proved this at every given opportunity”.
Lauding the Modi government for reforming laws that had “become irrelevant in the global or economic sphere and were working as impediments in people’s welfare programmes”, the resolution mentioned the farm laws, the New Education Policy, ownership scheme, merger of public sector banks, and curbs on financial irregularities among some of the reformative measures.
“The government brought in three farm laws in the interest of farmers to ensure they get the right price for their produce, their farm income doubles and that they have the freedom to sell their farm produce where they want to,” the resolution noted.
On the coming Assembly polls, the resolution claimed that “West Bengal is fed up of the TMC, which is undemocratic, oppressive, and indulges in appeasement politics. West Bengal is set to write a new chapter. It is certain that the BJP will form a government this time in West Bengal, which is the land of its inspirational figure Dr Syama Prasad Mookerjee”. In Assam, another poll-going state, the resolution noted that “the pace of development has accelerated due to the fact that the NDA governments both at the Centre and in the state have been working in tandem”. In Tamil Nadu, where the BJP has forged an alliance with the AIADMK, the resolution said the NDA worked with “full dedication in Tamil Nadu and that is why the party expresses the belief that the NDA will once again form a full-majority government in Tamil Nadu”, while in Kerala the party’s “acceptability among the people of Kerala has risen while at the same time people’s anger towards the current government is palpable” and it is “working relentlessly to present a viable political alternative to Kerala”.
The resolution also mentioned the Jammu and Kashmir DDCs polls, the first local elections after the removal of Article 370, saying “it was democracy that won” and the “people fearlessly reposed faith in democracy”.
In April, BJP workers will launch a campaign to unite people in far-flung areas of the country by way of the Farmer Producer Organisation Scheme, National Nutrition Mission and Bandhan Yojana.