Patna: Exhorting party workers in Bihar to spread the message that "BJP is synonymous with development", its national president JP Nadda on Saturday asked them to work towards ensuring the NDA's return to power in the assembly elections due later this year.
Nadda inaugurated, through video conferencing, newly-built offices of the party across 11 districts of the state.
Speaking at the function, he called upon party workers to make use of technology at their disposal and explain to the people that "Bihar has the blessings of Narendra Modi, who has provided assistance worth billions to the state and these have been effectively utilised on the ground through Chief Minister Nitish Kumar".
Nadda also asked workers to dispel "misinformation" about the Narendra Modi government's measures like abrogation of Article 370 and making triple talaq a punishable offence.
He said they should explain to the people that these "decisive steps" had brought "happiness" to residents of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir who were previously deprived of many rights, and women who were aggrieved by the practice of instant divorce.
"(Jawaharlal) Nehru, Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi ran governments with full majority but lacked the will for decisive action on Article 370. Modi is different and he fulfilled his commitment once he got the numbers.
"The people of Jammu and Kashmir are today happier as they stand to benefit from facilities like quotas for tribes and laws against corruption and sexual abuse of children," he said.
Nadda also trained his guns at J-K leaders like Omar Abdullah and late Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, charging that they were bringing in a law "giving powers to the Jammu and Kashmir High Court to reverse a Supreme Court decision" and provide for disinheritance of a woman marrying a non-Kashmiri resident.
"Now, a Kashmiri woman can marry a person of her choice without worrying about her rights over her ancestral property and she shall also enjoy protection from domestic violence as per the law," he said.
He said, "It required Modi's strong political will to do away with triple talaq, which is illegal in Islamic countries like Pakistan, Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Malaysia. We abolished evil practices like Sati, should we have allowed our Muslim sisters to suffer on account of a social evil."
Apparently mindful of the dissidence that comes to the fore ahead of the elections with many aspirants not being considered for tickets, Nadda said, "Always do remember, politics is a serious full-time job where there is an entry point but no exit."
"Do not get swayed by concerns of individual benefits. Do remember that if the party thrives, the benefits will reach all," he added.
In an indirect reference to recent reverses suffered by the BJP in Delhi and Haryana, Nadda asked party activists not to be unnerved by "stray electoral setbacks", insisting "in the long run only a party based on ideology thrives and survives".
"We are the only national party which has a scientific (sic) ideological base," he added.
Claiming that India's standing in the world had soared under the Modi's rule, Nadda lavished praise on the prime minister for rejecting the RCEP (Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership), upon finding it to be against national interests, despite international pressure.
"Even US President Donald Trump has expressed tremendous respect for Modi and our prime minister has stated that it was tantamount to respect for the people of the country," Nadda said.
Several senior leaders, including BJP national general secretary in-charge for the state Bhupendra Yadav, Union minister Nityanand Rai and party's state unit chief Sanjay Jaiswal were present on the occasion.
In his nearly half an hour long speech at the programme, Nadda spoke about his own close ties with the state, where he was born and spent his early life.
Nadda, who had cut his political teeth as a Patna-based student activist, concluded his address with an evocative "Jai Bharat, Jai Bihar" chant and asked BJP workers to "fully devote" themselves to ensuring the victory of the "NDA, led by Nitish Kumar" in the assembly polls.
"I can see the massive improvements in infrastructure compared with my early days in the state. Wherever one goes, one comes across some project for which the Centre has released hundreds of thousands of crores. Do explain this to the people, do tell them that the BJP is synonymous with development," he added.
Comments
0 comment