New Delhi: Stressing on the fact that the focus should be on local rather than national and international issues, Prime Minister Narendra Modi gave the mantra of 2024 to National Democratic Alliance (NDA) MPs Monday.
According to a source, Modi, while addressing a meeting of MPs from Uttar Pradesh stressed on the fact that apart from the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya, they should raise local issues important to the public and be seen with them ahead of the crucial elections.
The BJP has divided its 430 NDA MPs into 11 groups which will hold meetings with the PM till 10 August. Two of these were held Monday.
“PM was quite clear that we need to be seen and be visible in our constituencies and attend all kinds of programmes, even weddings, to connect with people. He said that right from free ration and Ujjwala Yojana to the Jan Dhan Yojana, these schemes have transformed the lives of the poor sections of the society and this should be highlighted aggressively,” said a BJP leader to ThePrint on condition of anonymity.
“He said the first person that the public should reach out to should be the MPs. Those who are angry and upset, speak to them. Try and understand their concerns,” the BJP leader added.
The MPs were also told to devise their own exclusive programmes to connect with the public, apart from highlighting the work done by the central government. The stress was also on highlighting the work of the NDA government keeping the coalition dharma in mind.
The first meeting was attended by MPs from West Uttar Pradesh, Braj and the Kanpur-Bundelkhand area. The meeting, which took place at Delhi’s Maharashtra Sadan, also had party president J.P. Nadda and Union minister Nitin Gadkari in attendance.
The second meeting, held later in the day, with alliance leaders from Jharkhand, West Bengal and Odisha took place in the Parliament complex and was attended by Defence minister Rajnath Singh and Home Minister Amit Shah.
“The Prime Minister’s mantra was simple — highlight the work done by the state (if the BJP government is in power) and the Centre, especially schemes that have made the lives of people easier. He also said that rather than focusing on national and international issues, for the next six months, we should concentrate on local issues only,” said another senior BJP leader to ThePrint.
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‘Highlight central govt’s work’
Speaking on the importance of social media, PM Modi also asked legislators to promote their work fiercely on Twitter and other platforms.
To highlight the achievements of the government to the common people, he asked the MPs to remain in their Lok Sabha constituencies for maximum time till the elections.
“Go among the people of your area and give information to the public about the works done by the central and state governments,” said the BJP leader quoting the Prime Minister.
Referring to the formation of NDA and invoking the coalition dharma, PM Modi said NDA was not formed out of selfishness but with a “sense of sacrifice”.
“Otherwise, despite the number of good MLAs in Punjab, we did not make our (party’s person) deputy CM. Similarly, we had more MLAs in Bihar, yet we made Nitish Kumar the CM,” said the PM referring to the Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar who, he said, still ended the coalition and joined the opposition ranks.
On the opposition alliance naming themselves ‘INDIA’, Modi said that changing the name of UPA to INDIA will not hide the sins of the former’s previous tenure.
According to sources, the PM’s speech at the first meeting lasted 30 minutes.
At the same time, a presentation showcasing the work done by the central government and the Yogi Adityanath Government of Uttar Pradesh was shown at the first meeting. “PM Modi said we need to win more seats than in 2019 and make India a developed country in the years to come,” A third BJP leader said while speaking to ThePrint.
(Edited by Zinnia Ray Chaudhuri)
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