Best era coming, connect with all, Modi tells cadre

New Delhi: Reminding the BJP leaders that only 400 days were left for the 2024 electoral battle, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday asked the party leaders and the cadre to set a target of reaching out to everyone in every section of society, including the marginalised and minorities, without thinking about electoral gain. He said: "India's best era is coming and we must work very hard to contribute to the country's development."

The PM, sources said, asked the BJP leaders that their efforts to reach out to Muslims, including various sects and churches, should not be guided by the precondition that the party will get votes from them. The PM, sources disclosed, also asked the party leaders of some of the election-bound states that they "should not totally depend on him" for elections but should work in a manner that people approve of the party.

In his valedictory speech at the BJP national executive meeting, which unanimously endorsed the proposal moved by defence minister and former party president Rajnath Singh to extend national president J.P. Nadda's tenure till June 2024, Modi cautioned the party against any sense of "overconfidence".

Union home minister Amit Shah, who officially announced the national executive's endorsement of Nadda's tenure, said the party is confident that under Modi's leadership and Nadda's organisational leadership, the BJP will get a bigger mandate in 2024 than in 2019.

Nadda, during his inaugural address at the meeting on Monday, had set the task for the organisation to win all nine Assembly elections scheduled this year.

A socio-economic resolution passed at the meeting asserted that in the last eight-and-a-half years, the government has made the Indian economy and society more inclusive and self-reliant. It also thanked the PM for the construction of Ram Mandir in Ayodhya. Suggesting that the Modi government is fulfilling people's needs, the resolution underlined that now the country is moving towards politics and governance saturation.

Asserting that the BJP is not a political organisation but a social movement, Modi asked the party workers to dedicate themselves to reaching out to all communities. The PM also asked them that a special effort should be made to reach out to the youths in the 18- to 25-year-old age category, who should also be told about the difference in the style of governance before 2014. The BJP leadership will chart out the "BJP Jodo Abhiyan" as suggested by the PM.

"India's best era is coming and we must work very hard to contribute to the country's development. ‘Amrit Kaal’ should be transformed into ‘Kartavya Kaal’, then only the country can rapidly move towards progress...with dedication reach out to every section of the society...it doesnt matter whether or not they vote(for the BJP)," said senior BJP leader and Maharashtra deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis quoting the PM.

While talking about the youth, the PM, as told by Fadnavis, said the youth has not witnessed the political history of India and is not aware of the corruption and wrongdoings that took place in the previous governments. "So, the youth need to be made aware. They must be told about the good governance of the BJP. The party will do it in the coming days," said Fadnavis.

When asked about the PM's message for the coming elections, Mr Fadnavis said, "It was a speech made by a statesman rather than a politician."

Fadnavis said the PM's address was inspirational as well as a guide to a new path, where he said that "every moment in office your life should be spent in the development story of India. The country can be taken forward only by converting this Amrit Kaal into Kartavya Kaal.

Earlier, education minister Dharmendra Pradhan briefed about the socio-economic resolution, which praised the PM for transforming India from a "Fragile Five" economy into the fifth largest economy in the world.

"The resolution underlined that now the country is moving towards politics and governance of saturation, suggesting that the government's programmes are fulfilling the requirements of the people... In the last eight-and-a-half years, the government has made the Indian economy and society more inclusive and self dependent," the BJP leader said, underscoring that "Sabka Sath Sabka Vikas" is not merely a slogan but the philosophy of his party," Mr Pradhan said.

External affairs minister S. Jaishankar also briefed the gathering on India's G-20 presidency. He asserted that India's image has transformed globally in the last nine years of the Modi government.

India used to depend on other countries during earlier crises but it not only met the challenges of the pandemic on its own but also helped others, Mr Jaishankar said.  

Briefing reporters on the statement made by Mr Jaishankar at the meeting, BJP vice president Baijayant Jay Panda, quoting the minister, said the world's view of India has changed in the last nine years. He said when the Covid pandemic broke, there were concerns that India will be one country that may not manage it, but now the G-20 and the world in general are "full of admiration" as India not only dealt with the crisis but also reached out with help to other countries.

A statement on "garib kalyan" (ruling party's welfare policies) at the Centre and in states where it is in power was also made, with BJP Parliamentary Board member Sudha Yadav dismissing Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's criticism about concentration of wealth.

She said Rahul Gandhi kept raising the same issue without looking at figures about crores of people benefitting from the government's welfare policies, accusing him of making false claims. The BJP claimed that the attention given to the SC, ST, poor and backwards in the last nine years is unprecedented.