‘Not even once’: JP Nadda hails PM Modi after 93rd episode of ‘Mann ki Baat’

JP Nadda, who is on a two-day visit to Kerala, reached on Sunday. Upon his arrival, the party national president met former union minister Prakash Javadekar and other senior leaders.

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) national president JP Nadda on Sunday praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi for not referring to politics, “not even once”, during his monthly radio programme 'Mann ki Baat' in the last eight years.

“We witnessed the 93rd episode of PM Narendra Modi's Mann ki Baat today. We should realise that in every episode of the programme that the PM started on Oct 3rd, 2014... he never referred to politics, not even once,” news agency ANI quoted Nadda as saying at a party meeting in Kochi.

Nadda, who is on a two-day visit to Kerala, reached on Sunday. Upon his arrival, the party national president met former union minister Prakash Javadekar and other senior leaders.

Nadda listened to the Mann Ki Baat programme along with BJP karyakartas at Srirangam Auditorium at Chengamanad in Ernakulam district. He will also participate in the Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya commemoration programme.

Later in Kottayam, Nadda will participate in an interaction with beneficiaries of central government schemes and visit the Sreenarayana Guru pilgrimage centre. He will also plant saplings on the banks of the Meenachil river and inaugurate the BJP district office at Nagambadam. He will then leave for Thiruvananthapuram.

PM Modi pays tribute to Deen Dayal Upadhyay

On Mann ki Baat, Modi also paid tribute to Deen Dayal Upadhyay. He said Upadhayay had seen many ups and downs in life and that is why he put forward the ideas of integral humanism for the country. “His integral humanism is a thought which makes us conflict and prejudice free in the name of ideologies. He put forth the Indian philosophy of considering all human beings as one before the world,” the PM said.

Upadhyay’s integral humanism and Antyodaya (serving the last man in the queue) are the core of the BJP government’s policies and programmes. The PM said Upadhaya had helped rid Indians of the inferiority complex that had gripped them soon after Independence and awakened their inner intellectual consciousness.

“He used to say the measure of a country‘s progress is the last person in queue. During the Amritkal of Independence, it will inspire to take the country forward,” he said.

Modi also announced that the Chandigarh airport will now be named after freedom fighter Bhagat Singh whose birth anniversary is on September 29. “We should draw inspiration from our freedom fighters and build India of their dreams to pay homage to them. A few days ago, we installed Netaji’s (Subhas Chandra Bose’s) statue at the Kartavya path…,” he said.