New Delhi: Underlining the importance of assembly elections lined up this year, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) national president J. P. Nadda exhorted the party’s national executive to ensure that it does not lose in any of the nine states.
The BJP chief also exhorted his colleagues to learn from the Gujarat election where the prime minister led from the front in the poll campaign and was backed by the organisation to achieve a historic mandate.
“All members of the executive have to be ready with full commitment to ensure the BJP wins all nine assembly polls in 2023,” Nadda told BJP state presidents and general secretaries Monday. “Winning the assembly elections is crucial, as it will lead to the 2024 Lok Sabha election.”
Elections are due in Tripura, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Mizoram, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Telangana. While the BJP rules the first three states, it shares power with regional allies in Meghalaya and Nagaland.
“Our effort to change the rivaj (tradition of alternate party in power) of Himachal did not succeed. We lost with only a small margin of 1 per cent votes. Earlier, this difference used to be five per cent or more,” Nadda added.
The closed door event was the BJP’s first national executive meeting after its victory in Gujarat and the loss in Himachal in December. Though the BJP won by a record win in PM Modi’s home state, Himachal dulled the sentiment as Nadda himself had led the party’s campaign there.
After Nadda chaired the closed door meeting, former Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad informed the media that the BJP chief urged all members to ensure win in all nine assembly elections.
Quoting Nadda, the BJP MP said, 72,000 booths were identified in 100 Lok Sabha constituencies where the BJP was weak but the party has reached out to 1.30 lakh booths to strengthen the party base.
The BJP chief reiterated five mantras which Modi had announced from the Red Fort — “a developed India, removing slave mentality, pride for glorious heritage, unity, and fulfilling citizen’s duties”, Prasad said.
Nadda, meanwhile, lauded India’s progress under PM Modi’s leadership. “India has become the world’s fifth largest economy, leaving behind Britain. … It’s a matter of pride that under the prime minister’s leadership, India is marching to become Vishwa Guru,” he said.
The BJP president lauded the “independent” foreign policy of India that came in praise from Russian President Vladimir Putin. The Covid vaccination drive which saw 2 million vaccines readied and people inoculated in 9 months also was highlighted as an achievement of the Modi government.
At the opening day of the two-day national executive meeting, Nadda also mentioned in detail how the government was reaching out to the last person, whether through the Garib Kalyan scheme or through the Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) programme.
The BJP chief also informed how the party plans to make Arya Samaj founder Swami Dayanand Saraswati’s 200th birth anniversary a grand success on 13 February.
Earlier in the day, the prime minister held a mega roadshow in Delhi ahead of the BJP national executive. The roadshow began from Patel Chowk and continued till the NDMC convention centre.
(Edited by Tony Rai)
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