BJP president J.P. Nadda on Saturday set the tone for the two-day national executive meet of the party in Hyderabad by taking on the Opposition parties, especially the dynastic ones, which, he said, had “for the purpose of opposing Prime Minister Narendra Modi begun opposing the nation” even as the people of the country continued to repose faith in both Mr. Modi and the BJP.
Mr. Nadda said this on a day Telangana chief minister K Chandrashekhar Rao skipped, for the third time in a row, receiving Mr. Modi at the airport as he landed in Hyderabad, which, the BJP said, was a violation of “constitutional propriety and federal protocol”.
Union Minister Smriti Irani, briefing the media on Mr. Nadda’s closed-door address to the party’s national executive, said that the party president flagged the “obstruction and destruction” of the Opposition parties over every programme and policy of the government that was aimed at reforms and the welfare of people.
“The Opposition has tried obstruction and destruction, but in a bid to keep opposing Prime Minister Modi they have started opposing the nation, which is not a good thing. There are certain issues on which Opposition parties should put the interest of the country first,” Ms. Irani said.
“Today when Naddaji spoke of the constructive politics of the BJP under the leadership of the Prime Minister, he reflected on the destruction Opposition parties hope to thrust upon the people of our country. The Opposition, mostly family oriented, which emanates from corrupt practices, has time and again tried to ensure that policies and programmes of the Government of India that are dedicated to building a resilient, resurgent India are met with destruction and disruption,” she quoted Mr. Nadda as saying.
Referring to Mr. Rao not receiving Mr. Modi upon his arrival in Hyderabad, Ms. Irani said, “KCRji has not only disrupted what has been constitutionally a federal protocol in our country, but has also broken maryada (propriety), politically, culturally and socially.”
On the Telangana Rashtra Samithi’s (TRS) accusation that the BJP meet in Hyderabad was a “circus”, Ms. Irani said, “For KCR and his political entity, politics may be a circus, people in his party may be affiliated to clownish political behaviour and he may not take politics with the seriousness it deserves, but for the karyakartas of the BJP, politics is a medium for social emancipation and nation-building.”
Referring to Mr. Nadda’s speech, Ms. Irani said that he expressed the gratitude of the BJP and the country to Mr. Modi, who, in his 20 years in public office (as Gujarat Chief Minister and Prime Minister), had worked for the welfare of people.
He also flagged the deepening of democracy and the representation of all sections with the nomination, by the National Democratic Alliance, of Droupadi Murmu as candidate for the post of President of India.
“He [Mr. Nadda] specifically spoke about the BJP’s karyakartas in Kerala, West Bengal and Jammu and Kashmir for their bravery and commitment. BJP workers are being slaughtered in Kerala and West Bengal, in Jammu and Kashmir they are confronting those who want to break the country by seeking to hold strong to the Constitution of India,” Ms. Irani said.
