BJP national president J.P. Nadda said a true leader is one who leads from the front like Prime Minister Narendra Modi who took “bold” decisions like enforcing national lockdown to save 130 crore people of the country from COVID-19 and even visiting the borders to be with the soldiers. “Here (in Telangana) we have a Chief Minister who does not come out of the house, did not go to the Secretariat in the last five years and even demolishes it for the sake of ‘vastu’. What can a leader, who is scared of ‘vastu’ - do good to people,” he chuckled, at a meeting of the Telangana Intellectuals Forum on Friday.
Expressing his happiness over the party gaining support during the GHMC polls campaign, he claimed BJP is the only party where leaders come from the people and not from family/dynasty - whether it is Mr. Modi, TS party chief Bandi Sanjay Kumar or Defence Minister Rajnath Singh.
“This is our intrinsic strength - so the focus is on public service unlike other family owned parties. Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao wants to rally anti-BJP parties but, why does he not say all the family-based parties should come together - because birds of the same feather flock together. Aren't all these parties interested in perpetuating dynastic rule,” he remarked.
Mr. Nadda posed questions to the gathering - "Is corruption rampant in TS or not? What is that project which has crossed ₹1 lakh crore? There should be a limit to greed too." A leader should be the custodian of public assets and not be like a "Raja" putting the people in debt. On TRS criticising his visit, he said though he was a national president, he is ready to go anywhere “where corrupt rule needs to be put an end.”
Extolling the leadership of the PM, the BJP leader said his party has been consistently performing well in all elections in the last six years, including winning the latest Bihar Assembly elections and the Dubbak byelection in TS due to the “good work” done by the Modi government.
"When even the developed nations were caught off-guard due to coronavirus pandemic, Mr. Modi took many proactive steps starting from the lockdown. From a single testing lab of National Virology Lab (NVL) with capacity of 1,500 tests and not having a single COVID dedicated hospital or lab or single firm making PPE kits, we have 1,600 such hospitals and 1,600 labs to do 15 lakh tests capacity. We are making five lakh protection kits and even exporting them, manufacturing three lakh ventilators and have 4.5 lakh dedicated hospital beds. That is the change brought about," he said.
The Prime Minister not only addressed the health issue but also economic issues in ensuring 8 crore women got three gas cylinders in last three months, ₹500 each directly to bank accounts of the poor, 80 crore were given 5 kilo rice and other commodities during the period, ₹1000 for widows, elderly people and disabled, the Atma Nirbhar package for MSMEs, street vendors, agriculture, etc.
Earlier, Mr. Nadda along with Union Minister of State for Home G. Kishan Reddy, Mr. Sanjay Kumar and others participated in a roadshow amid rain at Kothapet.
