The unprecedented poll mandate in the largest State of Uttar Pradesh and that in Uttarakhand has put the BJP on the fast track as it gears up for the 2019 lok Sabha polls with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday asking his party leaders to reach out to Dalits and the youth and make them ambassadors of the Government’s welfare schemes and policies.
Addressing the BJP’s Parliamentary Party meeting in Delhi, Modi said, “Na baithunga, na baithne dunga (Neither will I rest nor will I let you rest),” giving a message to party leaders that he would expect as much hard work from them as from himself.
BJP president Amit Shah, who had earned fulsome praise from the Prime Minister for guiding the party to poll victories, too appealed to MPs and leaders to set their eyes firmly on the next challenge.
“This huge victory reflects the support of the public, who have faith in us. The youth are an essential part of the country and, therefore, should be made ambassadors of the good work of the Government,” Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar quoted the Prime Minister as saying.
The PM asked MPs to focus on the need to use mobiles as a means to reach out to young individuals and connect with them even while they were in Class XII.
The PM and Shah, in a way, advised party leaders not to bask in the recent poll victories but continue to communicate with the people who gave the party such a massive backing in five Assembly polls.
Both were addressing the first Parliamentary Party meeting of the BJP after its success in UP and Uttarakhand and installation of BJP Governments in Goa and Manipur. Modi entered the venue of the meeting to a standing ovation by all the MPs.
He emphasised on “performance”, “reform” and “transformation”, saying the BJP Government had set an example of administration and development in less than three years. The Prime Minister reeled off a list of programmes for important events ahead, including a more than a week-long exercise between the party’s foundation day on April 6 and Bhim Rao Ambedkar’s birth anniversary on April 14.
He asked MPs to take up various programmes, including spending 72 hours to reach out to people when his Government completes three years on May 26. Modi also asked parliamentarians to submit their suggestions on any count ahead of his Government’s third anniversary on May 26.
The party has also decided to increase the pace and progamme of its reach to Dalits in the coming month as a big section among them is seen to have voted for the party in the Assembly polls. The leaders were also asked to publicise Ambedkar’s works and contributions.
The BJP will observe the week-long exercise in every panchayat and ward. It will also celebrate its foundation day on April 6 during which its leaders and workers will take part in ‘swachchh Bharat’ campaign.
Modi asked party leaders to work during the week to give a boost to the use of BHIM (Bharat Interface for Money) app, a digital payment application, by educating the masses about it and helping them download it. He said the app can liberate small traders from the clutches of money lenders and can be a tool of social transformation. Those using it most will also be incentivised, he said.
On his part, Shah maintained that the historic vote for the BJP has broken the shackles of the politics of caste, family rule and appeasement. He said the parliamentary election in 2019 is the next big challenge and asked the party leaders to make preparations for it. He asked them to not sit complacent. “The next target is 2019,” Shah said.
The BJP Parliamentary Party also passed a resolution thanking voters for their support and also party’s workers for their efforts under the leadership of Modi and Shah. It also expressed hope that the BJP Governments in these States will provide good governance and run public welfare programmes.
Home Minister Rajnath Singh proposed the resolution and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley supported it, which was passed unanimously, Kumar said.