WITHOUT diluting the “nationalist” identity of the BJP, the party needs to work to attract Dalits and tribals to this fold, Prime Minister Narendra Modi reportedly told his party’s “core group” of powerful leaders from all 29 states and seven Union Territories here today.
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Modi alerted his party leaders that “anti-incumbency” will be a factor in the coming elections and the party should find ways to defeat it.
“80 per cent of party workers come from the SC/ST (Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes) and OBC (Other Backward Classes) category”.
In his inaugural address, Amit Shah said the core groups represent the party’s policy of collective leadership and collective decisions.
To bring uniformity in the messaging that is delivered from the top, and is relayed down to the party’s smallest unit at the mandal level, BJP called the meeting of its core groups.
Stressing on inculcating nationalism among people, Prime Minister Narendra Modi asked his party men to beware of certain forces which were trying to turn people against them despite doing all the good work.
Describing the core groups as catalysts, Modi said running the organisation while it is in power is more hard than when it was in opposition. He lauded the recently concluded Tiranga Yatra carried out by Ministers and party leaders in various parts of the country as the kind of programme that kindled a spirit of patriotism.
“We are continuously working for development but there are some elements who do not like it”. Shah added there be regular meetings of the core group should be held to bring focus on dialogue, collective.
Modi also cautioned party leaders, saying that they would need to alert the common people about this.
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Sources said the PM also shared his concern over the misconception created by the opposition that the BJP has failed to stand for and protect the weaker sections, specially the Dalits. The third session was devoted to national organising secretary Ram Lal’s detailed lecture on the roadmap for the core groups. He said though there were forces that were working against the organisation, the BJP’s “aim is nation-building”. Shah also noted that there was a lack of new ideas and initiatives in state units of the party. He also said it was a lot easier to run an organisation while in the Opposition, “but when you are in power, you are scrutinised for everything”.
