At the BJP chief ministers’ meeting in New Delhi on Tuesday. (Photo: Tashi Tobgyal)
AS PRIME Minister Narendra Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah brainstormed with party chief ministers and deputy chief ministers on the strategy for the upcoming assembly polls and 2019 Lok Sabha polls, the party indicated on Tuesday that its campaign would focus on developmental work as well as identity politics.
Briefing mediapersons after the day-long meeting at the BJP headquarters, Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh said the party renewed its commitment to bring back Modi with a stronger majority. Singh said they held “extensive discussions” on the 2019 elections and the assembly elections in Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan due later this year.
Addressing the meeting, Shah listed the Centre’s initiatives, including the National Register of Citizens (NRC) in Assam and the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill that was tabled in the Lok Sabha in 2016 — both seen as controversial issues which could trigger an upsurge in identity politics.
The amendments to the Citizenship Act, 1955, seek to allow citizenship status to some “persecuted minorities” — Hindus, Christians, Parsis, Sikhs, Buddhists and Jains — from the neighboring countries of Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan after six years of residency.
“The BJP’s stance on NRC is clear — there is no place for foreign infiltrators in this country,” said Singh, while talking about Shah’s speech. He added that India should accept Hindus who flee countries like Afghanistan and Bangladesh.
Both Modi and Shah urged the chief ministers to campaign on the NDA government’s legislative achievements — passage of the Bill seeking constitutional status for the National Commission for Backward Classes (NCBC), amendments to the SC and ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. “The constitutional status for the backward classes commission was a long-pending demand. Despite its majority in the past Lok Sabhas, Congress could not get it done for generations,” said Singh.
The chief ministers and deputy chief ministers discussed the BJP-led government’s flagship programmes, with details on how they were implemented in the party-ruled states.