'India's best era coming, connect with all sections': PM Narendra Modi tells BJP workers, sounds bugle for 2024 Lok Sabha elections

BJP national Executive: Sounding the bugle for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, PM Modi told the BJP members to reach out to the people of the country to build an inclusive nation, and make that connection work in party's favour in the general elections.

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi has asked BJP members to reach out to every section of society, including minorities such as Bohras, Pasmandas and Sikhs, and work for them without electoral considerations, during his address at the BJP national executive on Tuesday. In his address, which concluded with his remarks, PM Modi noted that nearly 400 days are left for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls and asked party members to serve every section with full dedication in a speech described by several participants as his big vision to expand the saffron organisation and lead the country in every aspect.

Various party members who were part of the audience said the Prime Minister spoke highly of 'sufism' and also asked them to meet professionals from different walks of life and visit places like universities and churches to connect with them. The Prime Minister said India's best era is coming and the party should dedicate itself to the country's development and turn "amrit kaal", the 25-year period to 2047, into "kartavya kaal" (era of duties).

Some glimpses from the 2nd day of the BJP National Executive meeting. pic.twitter.com/m8GkHGg758 — Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) January 17, 2023

Sources said he also cautioned the party against any sense of "overconfidence" and cited the example of the BJP's loss in Madhya Pradesh in 1998 despite the unpopularity of then Congress government led by Digvijaya Singh. Modi was then a key minder of the BJP's organisational affairs in the state.

Pictures from the National Executive meeting in Delhi. pic.twitter.com/VVfRhm3E1d — Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) January 16, 2023

'Refrain from controversies'

Amid controversy over Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan's upcoming film "Pathaan", Prime Minister Narendra Modi also asked his party workers to refrain from making unnecessary remarks on irrelevant issues such as movies. Some party leaders often take a critical stance on movies for "hurting" people's feelings, with Shah Rukh Khan's "Pathaan" being the latest example.

Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis told reporters that PM Modi, in his address to the BJP national executive meet, emphasised on reaching out to all sections of society and said his speech was not of a political leader but of a statesman underlining that kept the nation above the party.

‘BJP no longer merely a political movement’

The BJP is no longer merely a political movement but a social movement as well that is working to transform socioeconomic conditions," PM Modi told the executive, he said. The Prime Minister said people in 18-25 age group have not witnessed the political history of India and are not aware of "corruption and wrongdoings" that took place under previous governments. "So, they need to be made aware. Let them know about the good governance of the BJP," he said in an apparent swipe at the previous dispensations at the Centre.

आज का प्रधानमंत्री जी का उद्बोधन प्रेरक भी था, दिशा दर्शक भी था और नई राह दिखने वाला था।

उन्होंने कहा कि अपने जीवन का क्षण-क्षण भारत की विकास गाथा में लगाएं।

इस 'अमृत काल' को 'कर्तव्य काल' में परवर्तित करने से ही देश को आगे ले जाय जा सकता है।

- श्री @Dev_Fadnavis #BJPNEC2023 pic.twitter.com/KipbHeFUgc — BJP (@BJP4India) January 17, 2023

Fadnavis said PM Modi also advised the party to conduct special programmes of its different 'morchas', especially in border villages so that it can connect with people there more and ensue that the government's developmental schemes reach them. "The prime minister's speech was inspirational. It guided us as well as showed us a new roadmap. He asked us to dedicate every moment of our life to advance the country's development. Only by converting the 'amrit kaal' into 'kartavya kaal', the country can be taken forward," the Maharashtra leader said.

‘Focus on Dharti Bachao’

Emphasising on environmental conservation, PM Modi instructed party workers that on lines of "Beti Bachao" campaign they have to start "Dharti Bachao" (save earth) campaign, Fadnavis said adding that the Prime Minister underlined the need to reduce dependency on fertilisers.

PM Modi referred to the Kashi-Tamil Sangamam, which was recently held in Varanasi, to celebrate ancient spiritual ties between the two regions and asked party members to connect with different cultures. "Only those who take a pledge go on to create history. The BJP has to take a pledge and also to create history," he said.