Amid events to mark the 41st foundation day of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Tuesday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi told his partymen to create awareness among the people on welfare schemes run by the Central government and combat what he termed “false narratives” by opponents on the controversial farm laws and the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA).
Addressing party leaders and workers via videoconference, Mr. Modi said that “blatant lies” that farmers' land would be seized, or that citizenship of some people would be revoked, or even that caste-based reservations would be scrapped along without the “Constitution being changed” were being spread by “certain individuals and organisations”.
These false narratives had been spread over his government's measures like farm laws, CAA and labour laws, he said.
“Deliberate politics is behind it. It is a very big conspiracy and its aim is to trigger political instability in the country by creating misconceptions and stoking imaginary fears,” he said, adding that this was a “serious challenge”.
He asked party members to be alert about them and go among the masses to spread awareness.
Protests by farmers groups have been continuing over months against the three farm laws passed by Parliament in the monsoon session last year, and Opposition parties have criticised the laws on citizenship, and farm and labour reforms.
The Prime Minister also hit out at those who had often dubbed the BJP as an “election-winning machine” over its poll triumphs, and accused them of double standards, saying rival parties and their leaders were lauded when they won.
“These people do not understand the maturity of Indian people and its democracy, and nor do they appreciate citizens' hopes, expectations and dreams,” he said.
The BJP was a continuous movement to win people's hearts as it served people for five years honestly, be in the government or outside, he said.
He added that the poor and the rural India had embraced the BJP as for the first time they had seen ‘antyodaya’ (welfare of the most deprived) being realised through a number of schemes, including toilets in households, bank accounts for the poor, free LPG connections and tap water connections in rural areas. He traced the approach of his government to the legacy of Jan Sangh founder Shyama Prasad Mookerjee, and that it could be seen from the government’s move to read down Article 370 according special status to Jammu and Kashmir.
He expressed gratitude towards the workers of the party, who he said had proved that “hard work can make an organisation reach unimaginable heights”.