UP: Unlike others, BJP has leaders, workers and intent to enact policies, says Nadda

BJP national president J P Nadda on Friday laid into the Congress and regional parties, accusing them of practising “dynasty politics”. In contrast, Nadda claimed after inaugurating a Ram statue at the party office here, the BJP was the only democratic party. The current prime minister, defence minister, home minister and chief minister of UP were from ordinary families without any political background, he added.

Amid chants of “Chappa Chappa Bhajapa [BJP is verywhere]”, the BJP president told workers at a “Booth President Conference” here, “From Leh-Ladakh and Jammu & Kashmir to Kerala, from the west to the east, everywhere you will see that political parties, be it national or regional, have been gripped by dynasties. The father gives the baton to his son, while common workers roam about carrying party flags.”

Nadda claimed the situation of other parties was such that those with “netas [leaders]” do not have “niti [policy]”, while those who with policies do not have “niyat [intent]”. Parties with intent do not have a political programme, while those who have one do not have workers to implement it. “It is only the BJP that has neta, niti, karyakram [ programme] as well as karyakarta [workers],” Nadda added.

At a meeting on intellectuals later in the day, the BJP chief and Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath targeted the Opposition, saying its leaders were still in “quarantine”. Nadda claimed a recent survey had named Modi independent India’s most popular prime minister even though he has been in power for just over six years unlike former prime ministers Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi of the Congress. Former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee was second in the survey ranking, he added.

Many people win elections, many become the leader but those who work day and night to connect with the public to change their destiny get the leading place,” he added.

Targeting Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, without naming him, Nadda said some leaders were are still in quarantine and isolation and do nothing except address press conferences. Such people should be kept in quarantine and isolation, he added.

“More than 10-and-a-half months have passed and there are many leaders, who are still in quarantine and we see only their tweets. Thus, their workers have also isolated themselves,” Adityanath said.

Meanwhile, at the booth leaders’ meeting, the BJP chief directed booth presidents to include everyone in the booth committees and ensure they tune into Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “Maan ki Baat” radio programme, which is held on the last Sunday of every month. Nadda asked the party cadre to take forward the message of “Maan ki Baat”, and visit the homes of people mentioned by the prime minister and felicitate them with garlands for doing good work.

Speaking at length about the Centre’s schemes and programmes such as the cleanliness drive, housing schemes, the Ujjwala scheme, and the Swabhagya Yojna, Nadda told workers to understand the schemes in detail. He said the Modi government had made the Ram temple in Ayodhya a reality and triple talaq had been removed, pointing out that the tradition of triple talaq was not present in Muslim-majority countries but was part of a secular country like India.

Lauding the timely “right decisions” taken by the Modi government during the ongoing pandemic, Nadda said countries such as Spain and Italy had better health infrastructure than India but fared worse during the pandemic.

Nadda told booth committee members that political workers do not operate in a vacuum, and instructed them to use facts while talking to the public about Central schemes and investments, and requested booth presidents to ensure it.

“It is my request that divisional office bearer should visit every booth one in a month and sit with the booth-level committee. Being a general secretary is a post but being a booth in-charge is his responsibility. Giving target to booth presidents to ensure that workers do not only meet every member in their areas but even stand by them during their need and help them.

Adityanath told the booth presidents to remember Modi’s message that of the multiple ways of winning elections, the simplest one was winning booths. “If you win booths, you win elections,” he added.