New Delhi: Two years into its second tenure at the Centre, the Bharatiya Janata Party is making a conscious effort to help its young members transition from being members of the opposition, into preparing for a role in governance and administration.
For these next-generation leaders to be able to live up to Modi’s vision, it won’t be enough to simply spearhead political agitations and participate in party meetings and rallies. And so the PM has himself instructed senior party leaders to groom members of the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) — the BJP’s youth wing — so that they become ‘administrator politicians’ and not just mere agitators.
For this, the party has started a unique programme, titled Bharat Darshan, to help these youth leaders comprehend the Centre’s policies and governance, and understand the nitty-gritties of administration. The members — the “most dynamic” from across the BJYM’s state units — selected through a preliminary exams, will be taken to states like Karnataka, Sikkim, Gujarat, Jammu and Kashmir, Nagaland, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh, to allow them an inside view of governance here.
From studying the dynamics of start-up incubation centres in Nasscom, Bangalore, to understanding the implications of PM Modi’s policies — including the decision of abrogating Article 370 in J&K and easing out AFSPA across parts of the North-East — the teams, selected from across 16 states, will be taken to different BJP-ruled states or states which have witnessed a shift in national policies and trained in administration and governance for a week.
Launched earlier this month, the programme has already seen the first batch of 50 young leaders complete their training.
Talking to The Print, Tejasvi Surya, national president of BJYM and Bengaluru (South) MP said, “From being primarily an organisation in opposition, to being a youth wing of a party in government, BJYM is going through a transitional phase.”
He added: “It is the PM’s vision to give our young political activists exposure and study in aspects of good governance, and to give them the necessary skills needed for an effective political activist for 21st century India.”
Vision for the next generation
A senior BJP leader said that the party will train around 5,000 youths in the first phase of the programme.
The leader added: “Our party has governments in almost all states in the country, except seven-eight states. So, we should not act like a party in Opposition now. Instead, we should start training our young minds to become the future administrators or policy makers. Modi ji feels that all rising youth leaders are future MLA, MPs and ministers. They need first-hand knowledge and understanding to run administration. Our party is now building the next generation.”
The programme comes at a time when the BJP is being criticised by some for being communal and creating a division in society, be it because of the hijab controversy in Karnataka or calls in many places for the closing of meat shops during just-concluded Navratra celebrations.
A source in the BJP said the training is also aimed at motivating the party’s young leaders.
“Our programme for the youth, that we have named as Bharat Darshan, is inclusive in nature. It covers everything. We took them to Nasscom, to the Ola factory in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, to the hydel power plants and the organic farms in Sikkim, to industrial units in Gujarat,” said a second senior leader.
He added: “To understand the country’s history and culture, we took them to Hampi in Karnataka. We will add other locations too. The young generations have not been taught enough about Indian history and culture, we need to make them see and learn things. The delegations will be taken to J&K and North-Eastern states too to see how Modiji transformed these areas.”
(Edited by Poulomi Banerjee)
Also read: Hijab, halal, Navratri – The message is for Hindus, not Muslims, in Modi’s India