Revving up for upcoming assembly elections, Bharatiya Janata Party president J P Nadda on Sunday set an ambitious target of having booth committees at all polling stations in the country by December this year and 'panna committees' responsible for each page of voters' list by April next year, while asserting that the party's best is yet to come.
Addressing the BJP's national executive in New Delhi, Nadda also reached out to Sikhs, who are in majority in poll-bound Punjab that is the most affected by the anti-agri law protests, by listing a number of measures the Modi government has taken for the community.
"No one has done as much work as our Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi ji has done in the interest of Sikh brothers," he said and mentioned steps like Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) registration given to Golden temple in Amritsar, opening up of Kartarpur corridor, removal of names of 314 Sikhs from the black list and expediting action against 1984 riots accused.
Taking a strong note of political violence in TMC-ruled West Bengal against BJP workers, Nadda said, "I want to make it clear through the party's national executive that we are not going to sit quietly. We will fight a decisive battle for the party workers democratically in Bengal and lotus will bloom in the state."
Specifically naming the five states where the party has never tasted power on its own -- Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Kerala, Odisha and West Bengal -- Nadda said, "The states where BJP has not come to power till now, (the party) will try its best and is committed to form the government in these states."
Sharing the details of Nadda's speech, Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan told reporters that he underlined the party's performance in West Bengal assembly polls and the substantial growth in the party's vote share compared to the 2016 assembly elections, and 2014 and 2019 Lok Sabha polls.
He said there are very few parallels in Indian politics to the BJP's growth in West Bengal.
Pradhan said the executive hailed Prime Minister Narendra Modi's effective leadership during the COVID-19 pandemic, administering of over 100 crore vaccination doses and providing free food grains to 80 crore poor people.
He said that Nadda noted that this is the largest food programme in human history.
Setting new organisation targets for the BJP's expansion, according to Pradhan, Nadda announced the party will constitute booth level committees at all 10.40 lakh polling stations in the country by December 25 this year and have 'panna committees', a reference to each page of voters' list, in each constituency by April 6.
"The entire exercise is aimed at taking the party penetration deeper and further strengthening its roots on the ground," Pradhan said.
Citing the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan, Pradhan said the executive lauded Modi for his foresight of enacting the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, which aims at providing citizenship to minorities such as Hindus, Sikhs, Jains and Buddhists in some neighbouring countries, including Pakistan and Afghanistan.
In his speech, Prime Minister Narendra Modi asked BJP members to become a 'bridge of faith' between the party and the common man and expressed confidence that the BJP will win the trust of people in the upcoming assembly polls in five states.
Addressing the valedictory session of the BJP's national executive, Modi stressed that the BJP runs on the values of 'Sewa, Sanklap aur Samparan (service, resolution and commitment)' and 'does not revolve around a family', urging its members to work for people, Union Minister Bhupender Yadav said quoting the prime minister.
Following Nadda's speech, the chief minister of poll-bound Uttar Pradesh Yogi Adityanath tabled the BJP's political resolution, touching various landmark initiatives taken by the Modi government.
Sharing the details of the resolution, Union Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said the resolution specifically mentions that 'we shall ensure the party's victory in upcoming assembly elections'.
There is positive, energetic and unconditional support from the national executive to ensure the party's victory in upcoming assembly elections, she said.
The resolution condemned the opposition's 'opportunistic' politics and its attempts to create fear during the pandemic.
BJP national general secretary Tarun Chugh read out condolence messages for the party leaders who passed away.
During the meeting, chief ministers of four states where elections are due early next year -- Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Manipur and Goa -- and their respective state presidents gave presentations on their poll preparations.
BJP's Punjab unit head also gave a presentation on upcoming assembly elections and said that the party will contest all 117 assembly seats.
This was the BJP's first national executive meeting after the outbreak of the pandemic and held in hybrid mode.
The party's national office-bearers, its national executive members from the national capital and Union ministers were physically present in the meeting, while the chief ministers of states where the party is in power and national executive members virtually attended the meeting.
At the NDMC Convention Centre, the meeting venue, musicians from across the country played traditional instruments to greet those attending the meet.
Prime Minister Modi while entering the venue met women who were in their traditional Chhath attire singing songs praising the Sun god.
Chhath is an important festival of people belonging to eastern parts of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Jharkhand and will be celebrated this week.
