In his inaugural address to the one-day conclave of newly constituted BJP national executive in Delhi on Sunday, Nadda hailed the performance of the party in “almost” all Assembly elections, by-elections and local bodies polls held since the outbreak of the Covid pandemic. He also lauded efforts of the Narendra Modi government in administering of 108 crore doses of the Covid vaccine, the increasing return to normalcy in Jammu and Kashmir, the improvement in the economy and steps taken for the welfare of farmers.
In a press interaction, Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said Nadda emphasised that the party has not yet reached its peak despite electoral successes. He exhorted the party cadre to form booth committees in all the 10,40,000 booths across the country. While 85% has already been covered, the remaining should be formed by December 25, 2021. He also directed that panna pramukhs (incharge of each page of a voters’ list in a booth) should be appointed by April 6, 2022, the anniversary of BJP’s formation.
“An institutional mechanism should also be established by the party for propagation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Mann ki Baat at the booth level,” Pradhan said, quoting Nadda.
The BJP Chief did not make a specific mention of the setbacks in the recent by-elections in Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan and West Bengal. However, he dwelt at length on the political violence in West Bengal. Nadda directed the party cadre to work toward winning the forthcoming Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Goa and Manipur.
On West Bengal, Nadda said BJP is not going to sit quiet on the on-going political violence in the state which has claimed the lives of 53 party workers since the Assembly polls. “We will fight democratically against the unlawful administration and the lotus (BJP symbol) will bloom in the next election,” Nadda said.
The BJP President said the party has increased its poll percentage from almost negligible in 2016 polls to 38% in 2021. He said BJP has 18 MPs and won 77 Assembly seats in the state. Even vaccinations are being done on party lines, he alleged and there is “height of in-humanism” in the state.
Underlining the party’s electoral performance in recent polls, Nadda said, “BJP has achieved spectacular victories in almost all elections held post-Covid, be it the vidhan Sabha polls or the by-elections or local bodies. In Assam and Bihar we have formed a government with clear majority once again. In Puducherry we have formed a government for the first time. In West Bengal we have emerged as the main opposition.”
There is a need to further strengthen the party in Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Odisha, the BJP president said. He mentioned the recent by-poll victory in Huzurabad seat in Telangana and said the party has been doing well in the state. Under Amit Shah’s presidentship, the party had improved had grown deeper roots in Assam, Tripura and the North-East and the same needs to be done in the southern states now.
The BJP Chief was all praise for the Modi government. He said two Covid vaccines were developed in no time, and the target of 100 crore vaccinations was achieved in nine months, exceeding the jabs given in Europe which stood at around 75 crore.
He also underlined the progress made in Jammu and Kashmir since the abrogation of Article 370 and the growth in India’s standing globally on the issue of protecting the environment and fighting climate change.
Nadda made overtures to the Sikhs, ostensibly in view of the polls in Punjab and the on-going protests against the three farm laws in the state and western Uttar Pradesh. He said the Modi government removed the hurdles in Gurudwaras getting foreign contributions due to FCRA restrictions, removing GST on langars, spending Rs 120 Crore on development of Kartarpur Corridor, and forming an SIT to find the guilty in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots and punishing them.
On the issue of farmers’ welfare, Nadda said the Modi government has increased the expenditure provisions in the budget on farmers from Rs 23,000 Crore to Rs 1,23,000 Crore, increased the MSP on crops, and increased procurement under MSP from Rs 35,000 Cr to Rs 85,000 cr.
Nadda also emphasised that the ideological goals of the party have also been achieved under the Prime Ministership of Narendra Modi. Article 370 has been abrogated, the Ram temple at Ayodhya is under construction, Citizenship Amendment Act has been passed and Triple Talaq has been banned.
The hybrid session was attended by 124 members of the national executive physically while state unit presidents and chief ministers (barring Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath) joined virtually. Party veterans LK Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi participated virtually from their homes. The registration of 342 members was done digitally with the Prime Minister leading the group. Modi stayed throughout the proceedings.