The BJP office bearers, in their first physical meeting after the lifting of the COVID-19 lockdown, and amid the nearly three-month long protest by farmers’ union on contentious agricultural laws, on Sunday adopted a political resolution lauding the Narendra Modi government for its reforms in the agriculture and labour sector and its handling of the pandemic. The resolution also took a potshot at the Congress saying “the Opposition, especially the Congress, is frustrated and has decided to protest against all moves by the BJP government. The BJP will nevertheless reach out to the farmers to bust the myths being spread by the Congress on farm laws.”
The meeting, held in New Delhi, was addressed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi who urged the newly constituted team under president J.P. Nadda to go beyond “power politics” to working for the welfare of the country.
Party general secretary Bhupendra Yadav, briefing the media after the meet, said the political resolution was an omnibus one that covered all aspects of recent political happenings. “This was the first meeting of the newly constituted team, physically, since the outbreak of the pandemic and Prime Minister Modi spoke with great aatmiyata [sense of intimacy] with the team. He said the party’s goal should go beyond power politics and to Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas and the welfare of the country,” he said.
“The political resolution lauded the Narendra Modi government’s reformist work, in the midst of a world wide pandemic to forge ahead with agriculture reforms and coming out with a new set of labour codes. The Direct Benefit Transfer to beneficiaries through the lockdown and post lockdown period under the aatmanirbhar package et al was also appreciated.”
Mr. Nadda, said Mr. Yadav, asked that team members go among the people, the Farmers Produce Organisations (FPOs) and in tribal areas where the Van Dhan programme is being implemented to demonstrate that these agriculture and other reforms are for the “benefit of the country”. Last week, Mr. Nadda and Union Home Minister Amit Shah had met party MLAs and MPs from Western Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Punjab and parts of Rajasthan to ask them to work to persuade the protesting farming communities in looking at the agriculture laws as they are intended — as reforms.
“The Mahila Morcha has also been asked to carry forward the government’s nutrition programme or poshan abhiyan for children and mothers,” said Mr. Yadav.
The upcoming Assembly polls figured large in the meeting with each of the poll incharges of the five States going to the polls in the next couple of months —— West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Assam and Puducherry — reporting on the political situation prevailing in their respective States.
“The BJP in its political resolution has committed itself to uproot the fascist and undemocratic government of Mamata Banerjee in West Bengal. The party and its NDA allies have huge ground support in all States headed for polls this year,” he said. “In Assam, we are confident of being voted back to power on the back of the work done by the State government, in Tamil Nadu our alliance with the AIADMK has popular support, in Kerala we expect to emerge as a strong third pole in the bipolar polity, while in Puducherry we expect to increase our support base,” he said.
The other States have been asked to update voters’ lists and appoint panna pramukhs (for each page of a voters list). The recent victories of the BJP in local polls in various States have been cited as a spur to this activity.
