Chandigarh: In a first since the BJP came to power at the Centre and in Haryana in 2014, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to meet all party MLAs from the state at his residence in New Delhi on Saturday. The party has 48 MLAs in the 90-member Haryana Legislative Assembly.
The legislators will be led by Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini. While no formal agenda has been made public, party sources said Modi was likely to ask the MLAs about the political situation in the state and the public response to the government’s welfare schemes. The Prime Minister has set aside two hours for the interaction, they said.
Before meeting Modi, the MLAs will have lunch with Saini at Haryana Bhawan in Delhi before proceeding to the Prime Minister’s residence.
The meeting comes amid strong Opposition criticism, led by the Congress, of the BJP over the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. However, BJP Haryana chief Archana Gupta, when contacted by ThePrint, distanced the meeting from the controversy, saying Modi had committed to meeting the MLAs in July.
After taking charge as the party’s state president on 20 May this year, Gupta said she met Modi on 29 July to seek his blessings. “At that time, he told me that he would soon hold a meeting with all BJP MLAs from Haryana,” she said. The 3 October meeting, she added, “should be seen in that context only”.
Party sources said the meeting was initially sought for September but could not be held because of Modi’s busy schedule. The date was subsequently fixed for 3 October.
Gupta said BJP national president Nitin Nabin would also attend the meeting, which comes days after the party handed Haryana’s organisational charge to former Union minister Smriti Irani, replacing Rajya Sabha MP Satish Poonia. Lok Sabha MP and party national secretary Dr Bhola Singh was appointed co-in-charge.
Asked whether Irani and Singh would also attend, Gupta said the invitations were being sent from Delhi.
Gupta also denied any link between the meeting and the upcoming elections in neighbouring Punjab. “Party MLAs and other functionaries are always eager to get blessings and marg darshan (guidance) from Modi ji. This will be a great opportunity for all of them,” she said.
Many of the MLAs will be meeting Modi in a small group for the first time since the BJP came to power in the state in 2014.
Devender Attri, a first-time MLA from Uchana, told ThePrint he was excited after learning that he would meet Modi along with Saini, the party president and other MLAs. The 46-year-old legislator, an educationist who runs his own school and comes from an agricultural background, said he would raise issues concerning his constituency if he got an opportunity to speak to the Prime Minister one-on-one.
“Modi ji has worked for a long time in Haryana, and he knows Haryana like the back of his hand. It will be a great learning opportunity for all of us,” Attri said.
(Edited by Chingkheinganbi Mayengbam)
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