Modi calls for ‘fulfilment’ instead of ‘appeasement’
The Prime Minister told his party colleagues that the BJP’s aim should be pro-people and proactive good governance.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Sunday that the goal of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was to take India from “tushtikaran” (appeasement) to “triptikaran” (fulfilment), a remark he made on the concluding day of the party’s two-day national executive council meeting.
The Prime Minister told his party colleagues that they must learn from the mistakes of dynastic parties that are facing “existential crisis” and that the BJP’s aim should be pro-people and proactive good governance. He was addressing the concluding session of the key meeting in Hyderabad ahead of a clutch of state elections.
Modi also called upon BJP workers to strive to make India “shreshtha” (great) and emphasised on qualities such as restraint and coordination among them. He asked party members to undertake “Sneh Yatras” and reach out to all sections of the society.
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“The PM said parties that have ruled for years are fighting for their existence; this terminal decline of their identity should not be a reason for cheer or humour for us but should give us a commitment not to commit the same mistakes,” senior BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad said while addressing reporters about Modi’s speech.
The PM instructed the party to follow “P2 to G2, which is pro-people, proactive good governance” and said the BJP’s aim should be “from appeasement to fulfilment”, Prasad said.
Prasad said the PM also asked BJP MPs and MLAs to ensure that their votes for Droupadi Murmu were cast as per procedure so that not a single vote was invalid. The presidential election is on July 18.
The Prime Minister has been underlining the decline of dynastic politics in the county and has stressed on discouraging the promotion of family members within the party. In meetings with his party colleagues, he has often stressed that the electorate does not want to support parties that give priority to dynastic politics. Amid accusations by its opponents of following a policy of majoritarianism, the BJP has also been asserting that it does not believe in appeasement of any section of society but believes in justice for all.
Later in the day, while addressing a rally in Secunderabad after the culmination of the BJP meet, the Prime Minister said that the people of Telangana were paving the way for the BJP’s double-engine government in the state. The Telangana assembly elections are scheduled to be held in 2023, with experts saying that Modi’s remarks sounded the poll bugle in the state, which is currently ruled by the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS).
“In other states too, we have seen that the double-engine government of the BJP led to increasing trust of people in it. Even in Telangana, people are paving the way for the BJP’s double-engine government,” Modi said at the public meeting titled “Vijay Sankalp Sabha” at Parade Grounds in the Telangana capital.
Detailing Modi’s remarks at the BJP meet earlier, Prasad said: “The PM said the country is fed up with dynastic politics and equally fed up with such parties that follow dynastic politics. He said it is difficult for dynastic parties to survive for long and, therefore, youth should be encouraged to join the BJP so that they can move forward.”
He told reporters the PM referred to “diversity dividends” and said that the party must think of ways to leverage the potential of diversity in the country and plan to bring it into the BJP’s organisational structure.
Taking potshots at the Opposition, the PM said parties that accuse the BJP of being undemocratic must look within. “Those who question our democratic credential, how much democracy is there in their organisation? Those who accuse us, they must under how we work. Our aim is happiness for all. The PM spoke of the eternal spirit and strength of India,” Prasad said.
The PM said BJP members should work towards taking the country to great heights. “India first is our commitment to our ideology. And he stressed on seva, santulan, samanvay and samvaad (service, balance, coordination and dialogue),” Prasad said.
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The issue of political violence against the BJP cadre in Opposition-ruled states also came up during the PM’s address. He made a pointed reference to the states of West Bengal and Telangana, where the BJP says its cadres faced violence perpetrated by opponents.
“The PM said the BJP has moved ahead in many places. It gets peoples’ support for its work, governance and corruption-free administration,” Prasad said.
The BJP will also plan “Sneh Yatras” to reach out to people from a cross-section of society and appreciate their good work. “The idea was that while others have a negative approach; can we do something in contrast? So, we will go out and engage with people doing good work,” he said.
At the rally later in the day, the PM said the people’s faith in the BJP has been steadily on the rise in Telangana over the years.
“The love and affection has been steadily growing. It was visible in the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation elections, in which the party registered a huge success. In the subsequent by-elections, too, the people displayed their love towards the BJP. Now, when I see the enthusiasm and jubilation among the crowds here, I have no doubt that they will bless the BJP with power in the next elections,” he said.
“I am confident that the people of Telangana strongly wish that the BJP will come to power here and form a double-engine government wherein every town and every village will witness development,” Modi said.
In his 20-minute-long speech, the Prime Minister refrained from making any political comments against the ruling TRS or chief minister K Chandrashekar Rao.
“The BJP’s philosophy of Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, Sabka Prayas and Sabka Vishwas has taken inspiration from Telangana,” he said.
Modi spoke about how various initiatives of his government for the all-round development of various sections including SCs, STs, OBCs and women had benefitted Telangana.
Union home minister Amit Shah, meanwhile, said the people of Telangana had made up their mind to pull down the TRS government in the next elections and once the BJP came to power, it would fulfill all unfulfilled promises made to the people.
“In the last eight years, KCR (as the chief minister is called) has not gone to the secretariat even once. But don’t worry; very soon, the BJP chief minister will rule from the secretariat,” he said.
BJP national president JP Nadda called upon the people to dethrone the corrupt, dynastic and autocratic rule of the TRS and bring the BJP to power in the next elections.
The TRS hit back, accusing the Prime Minister of misleading people over the issue of development in Telangana. “We expected that Modi would give answers to the various queries raised by the chief minister on the BJP’s contribution to Telangana. But Modi skirted all of them. He has proved that the Centre has no accountability towards Telangana,” senior TRS leader and state finance minister T Harish Rao said.
