Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday hit out at the Opposition alliance that has renamed itself as INDIA, saying the collective may have changed its name, but it would not be able to secure the support of people who “continue to see the grouping as corrupt”.
Modi made the comment during a meeting with a group of National Democratic Alliance (NDA) lawmakers in Delhi, where he said the opposition leaders have realised that they will not be able to “undo the sins” of the past or shed the “burden of their sins” so they opted to change their name, a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) functionary present at the meeting said, asking not to be named.
According to this person, Modi said: “...the alliance wants to wash off the sins of the past and they have realised that people of the country have only hatred towards them. So, they want to leave behind their old identity.”
“The PM also said that the NDA was formed for a cause and not selfish reasons,” said a second leader. The leader said the PM cited the example of how the NDA chose to make Nitish Kumar the chief minister of Bihar even though the JDU had fewer seats than the BJP in the 2020 assembly elections.
The PM’s meeting comes ahead of the assembly elections in five states later this year and the 2024 general election.
{{/usCountry}}The PM’s meeting comes ahead of the assembly elections in five states later this year and the 2024 general election.
{{/usCountry}}Urging lawmakers to maintain direct contact with people in their constituencies, Modi is leant to have said that there should be amplification of the achievements of the central and BJP governments in the states.
“He said while we talk about national and international issues, we must ensure focus is on the achievements of the government and now the lives of those who were at the bottom of the socioeconomic structure have benefitted,” the functionary quoted above said.
The MPs have also been asked to continue the samapark se samarthan programme wherein senior leaders call on prominent people in their constituencies to talk about the government’s achievements.
The PM said 13 crore (130 million) people have been lifted out of poverty in nine years. “The PM said there will be a positive impact of this on the middle class as well. When the purchasing power goes up, it will lead to benefits for the middle class too,” the functionary said.
The PM was addressing lawmakers from western Uttar Pradesh. He later addressed another set of MPs from West Bengal, Odisha and Jharkhand.
The BJP has divided NDA MPs region-wise into 11 clusters and the PM will address each of these during the ongoing monsoon session.
Party president JP Nadda and Union minister Nitin Gadkari were also present for the meeting.