Amid controversies over certain statements of party leaders that triggered uproar by the Opposition in and outside Parliament, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday asked BJP MPs to maintain discipline in their speeches and action and take the concept of “good governance” to a logical end by ensuring that they provide efficient and quality services to the people.
Modi’s tough talk came against the backdrop of repeated disruptions in Parliament by the Opposition who objected to remarks by a Union Minister and BJP MPs on issues like conversion.
Addressing BJP MPs at the BJP Parliamentary Party meeting here, the Prime Minister said the Government will not get diverted from its development agenda and stressed that the work should be “visible” on the ground. He said the people in governance or those associated with governance should be “sensitive.”
The Prime Minister said good governance does not stop at setting up a hospital or bus stop. “Constructing a bus stop is development, but to see that buses ply on time, are kept clean, and women commuters are safe are ingredients of governance,” he said.
Modi added that constructing hospital building is an act of development “but hospital rendering services of quality, where doctors, along with the institutions, deliver medical services is part of governance,” Modi said.
The PM asked MPs to celebrate December 25, the day of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s birthday, as good governance day when “Atalji’s exceptional governance abilities should be recognised and publicised.”
A campaign on Clean India, holding debates and discussions on good governance addressed by top BJP leaders, eliciting suggestions from public to improve governance and distributing literature on it during the previous six-year NDA regime and during the six months of this Government will mark the day.
Speaking about the programme, he said service to society will be initiated by holding of camps on health, eye care, blood donation and distribution of blankets and other essentials to the poor in hospitals on the day, party sources said. Each MP would be visiting his respective constituency on this day.
Besides Prime Minister Modi, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Venkaiah Naidu spoke on good governance and the current impasse created by the Opposition. Jaitley said that the Government was keen to get Bills passed and would not be discouraged by the Opposition agenda. He also said that the Opposition was hell-bent on wasting this Session.
All party MPs, including Union Ministers Rajnath Singh, Sushma Swaraj and Nitin Gadkari, were present at the meeting. Modi said each MP should work to ensure that every booth in the country should have at least ten PM (Primary Members) and that party activities should be “given utmost priority”.