“Gareebi sabse badi jaati hai,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi told NDA MPs from Uttar Pradesh and Southern States on Wednesday while addressing the latest cluster meetings as the alliance steps up planning for the upcoming 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
PM Modi addressed a meeting of over 45 MPs from Uttar Pradesh, followed by another group of lawmakers from all southern states.
UP in Focus
The first such meeting today was held with NDA MPs from eastern region of Uttar Pradesh. The second meeting was with the alliance members from South, which included Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
The first meeting was hosted by the senior minister in the Modi government, Mahendra Nath Pandey, along with the NDA leader and union minister, Anupriya Patel. Interestingly, Prime Minister Modi is also an MP from the eastern UP region. Modi represents Varanasi, also known as Kashi, as its elected Lok Sabha MP.
The dignitary who spoke at this meeting was Union Home Minister Amit Shah. Union Defense Minister Rajnath Singh, who also participated in the meeting, is a Lok Sabha MP from this region.
What PM told UP MPs
The Prime Minister told alliance members from Uttar Pradesh that it is important to take central government schemes to the masses and dispel the rumors being spread by the Oposition. “Empower your constituencies with professional social media teams to counter Opposition’s false allegations effectively,” he said.
PM Modi advised MPs to be active on social media and to deploy the services of professional social media experts to enhance their performance in the digital world.
The Prime Minister laid stress on the need for MPs to communicate with the locals about the work done by the NDA government. “An idea for achieving this could be by opening call centers,” he said.
“Establish call centers in each of your constituencies where constituents can call MPs for work, and you can also reach out to them,” he advised.
Stressing on the work towards poverty alleviation which he termed as a “primary issue,” Modi said, “Gareebi sabse badi jaati hai” (Poverty is the biggest caste).
“The promise of the Ram Mandir was born from BJP’s ‘vichardhara’, but MPs cannot be complacent, assuming it will secure votes,” he added.
Interestingly, Modi also advised MPs to not initiate new projects in constituencies. “Instead, concentrate on completing the ongoing works and effectively publicise the government’s achievements,” he suggested.
PM Modi also said that while it is true that Article 370 and Ram Mandir have been part of the BJP’s commitment, “ideologically, to secure votes, one must work diligently for the people,” he added.
PM Modi Sets Eyes On South India
The second meeting was hosted by Union Minister, Pralhad Joshi and Minister of State for External Affairs V Muraleedharan.
The dignitaries in this meeting included BJP national president JP Nadda and Union Road and Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari.
PM Modi during his interaction with MPs from the South, highlighted the achievements of his government over the past nine years, with a particular focus on Southern India.
He also expressed concern over the level of corruption in opposition-ruled states, especially in the South.
PM Modi urged the NDA members to resist the culture of distributing freebies, which is prevalent in Opposition-led states. “Such practices could lead to significant losses for the country in the long run,” he said.
Modi launched a scathing attack against the Opposition’s bloc again and said that the alliance was formed mindlessly through a selfish agenda. “I can challenge the opposition MPs. Try asking any one of them – what is the full form of I.N.D.I.A., not a single one of them will know,” PM said, referring to the grand alliance.
NDA Dinner Delight
Apart from the discussions, there was a special focus on making it a culturally interactive session. This included serving local cuisines.
The eastern UP meeting featured famous chaats and baati chokha, while the meeting of the South MPs was a combination of recipes from all five South Indian states. Ragi Dosa, Appam, Idiyappam, and Puliyogare rice were some of the delicacies served for dinner.
The BJP has organised the NDA MPs into 11 clusters based on different regions and the Prime Minister is expected to address all of them over a series of meetings. On Monday, he had already spoken to MPs of two clusters.
The first cluster included MPs from western and Kanpur-Bundelkhand areas of Uttar Pradesh, while the second cluster had participation from parliamentarians from West Bengal, Odisha, and Jharkhand.
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