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Peace and unity needed for growth, Modi tells BJP MPs
PM expressed regret that people who occupied high offices in the country are now creating a controversy about slogans that glorify the nation.
Peace, harmony and unity are prerequisites for development, Prime Minister Narendra Modi told his party colleagues on Tuesday, urging them to redouble efforts to work towards nation building. He also delivered a sharp rejoinder to former PM Manmohan Singh for expressing concern over the use of the slogan ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai’.
Addressing the parliamentary party meeting of BJP MPs, days after communal riots in north east Delhi left 47 dead and hundreds injured, the Prime Minister said at a time when several forces are acting to destabilise the nation, MPs and party workers should work more vigorously for the people and the country.
According to a person privy to the meeting, the PM expressed regret that people who occupied high offices in the country are now creating a controversy about slogans that glorify the nation. The person quoted above said the PM attributed this to a “clash between those who choose dal-hit (party’s benefit) over desh-hit (country’s benefit)”.
“The PM said for some party is supreme but for us the country is supreme. And therefore we have to work for the development of all with manasa (mind), vaacha (speech), karmana (actions) and ask party leaders to work for the country’s development with their minds, words and actions,” the person aware of the details of the meeting said.
Without naming former PM Manmohan Singh, Modi said it was unfortunate that some people get offended by people raising a slogan such as ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai’. “The PM said before Independence, controversies over Vande Matarm had erupted, when some Congress members had concerns about chanting Vande Matram, and now some have concerns about Bharat Mata ki Jai,” the person quoted above said.
The PM’s comment was seen as a reference to what Singh had said during a book launch on selections from Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru’s speeches, essays and letters from pre- and post-Independence years in a book titled “Bharat Mata’’ by Professors Purushottam Agrawal and Radha Krishna.
“It is a book of particular relevance at a time when Nationalism and the slogan of ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai’ are being misused to construct a militant and purely emotional idea of India that excludes millions of residents and citizens,” Singh had said.
The Congress hit out at the Prime Minister over his veiled dig at Singh. “It was unfortunate that Prime Minister Modi did not take Dr Manmohan Singh’s remarks in the right spirit. Instead of being sarcastic, he should understand that Dr Manmohan Singh is known for his humility and wisdom. Bharat Mata belongs to all those who live in this country. The slogan ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai’ or the tricolour have to be held in high respect and not to be used for polarisation, division and violence,” senior Congress leader Anand Sharma said.
Minister of state for environment, forest and climate change, Babul Supriyo, said the PM told the MPs that they have been given the mandate to serve the people and they must focus on that.
According to another person aware of details, the PM referred to the spirit of nationalistic pride and focus on rebuilding by referring to the twin tragedies of a bomb that went off at the Centennial Olympic Park, ahead of the Atlanta Games in 1996 and the explosion of a TWA Flight that killed all on board, ahead of the Olympics. He said even though the morale of the people was low following the incidents, people chose to focus on the Games.
This reference was seen as a comment on the Opposition’s charge that the government remained focused on US President Donald Trump’s visit to India instead of violence that coincided with the visit.
At the meeting, the PM also exhorted the MPs to reach out to their constituencies and address the concerns of people. With International Women’s Day coming up on Sunday, he urged them to talk about the benefits of generic drugs and the provisions under Ayushamn Bharat (the flagship scheme under the government’s National Health Policy) that are beneficial to women in particular. All MPs have been asked to film two-minute videos of individuals who benefited from the schemes under Ayushman and the Pradhan Mantri Jan Aushadi Yojna, the government’s scheme for affordable medicine.
“The PM asked MPs to reach out to doctors to prescribe more generic medicines that are cheaper and more easily available and also to the masses to list the benefits of these drugs. He emphasised that the focus should be on women’s health and that women should be made aware of free or subsidized sanitary options available for them,” said a Lok Sabha MP.
The PM will hold a video conference with 6200 generic medicine shop owners on March 7.
