Highlighting India's presidency of the G-20 as a matter of “pride” for all citizens and an opportunity to establish global Indianness and its culture, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday deliberated with BJP leaders the strategies and planning for coming Assembly polls and the 2024 Lok Sabha elections barely 16 months away.
The PM arrived in the national capital after casting his vote in the Assembly elections of Gujarat and was welcomed by party president JP Nadda at the BJP headquarters where he inaugurated the party’s national office-bearers meeting.
Addressing a key closed-door meeting of BJP leaders from across the country, Modi asked party members to maintain a direct connect with border villagers and said they should be developed as places that draw visitors.
Besides its national office-bearers, presidents and general secretaries (organisation) of the BJP's state units are also part of the meeting chaired by the party's national president J P Nadda.
Former Chhattisgarh chief minister Raman Singh briefed reporters on the meeting and Modi's address in the meeting which would conclude on Tuesday.
The prime minister said there is an acknowledgement worldwide of the country's emergence as an economic power amid global challenges like the Ukraine war and the Covid pandemic. He spoke about G-20 meet which India is hosting for the first time saying the event gives India an opportunity to project itself in the world community.
According to sources, the meeting took up the slew of State elections lined-up next year including Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, besides Tripura and Chhattisgarh ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, and detailed preparations for the big challenge of 2024 Lokk Sabha poll.
Modi lauded the "Kashi Tamil Sangamam", a month-long event going on in Varanasi that celebrates ancient cultural ties between the two places.
Modi said "sneh milan" programmes, an idea he had first voiced during the party's national executive meeting in Hyderabad, should be promoted for cultural exchanges as being seen in Kashi, an ancient name of Varanasi.
Singh said the two-day meeting will be discussing various topical issues and also upcoming state elections. Party leaders are deliberating on further strengthening its presence at booths.
Besides its national office-bearers, presidents and general secretaries (organisation) of the BJP's state units are also part of the meeting chaired by the party's national president J P N
Various groups of leaders, including Union ministers, have also been roped in to strengthen the party's presence, especially in places where it lost in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls and is eying victory in 2024.