Outlining the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)’s agenda for the future, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has asked his colleagues to ensure that their outreach spans across regions and religions and is not bound by electoral compulsions.
According to people privy to the details, he has called for carrying out activities for capacity building to lay the ground for the party’s expansion, sharpening their response to a combative opposition and relaying the message that the BJP’s governance model assures inclusivity.
The instructions delivered at the party’s national executive council meeting that concluded on Tuesday set the tone for the party’s electoral preparations ahead of contests in nine states this year and the Lok Sabha polls in the summer of 2024.
“What the PM said was largely apolitical but gave a direction for the party’s growth. In the 1 hour 20-minute address, he painted an overarching picture of what the party’s future programmers should be and why we must not link our outreach to only winning elections,” said a party functionary, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Modi was quoted to have said the BJP was more than a political party; a social movement that can transform the lives of people.
As the party eyes pan India presence, particularly breaching the fortress that the Southern States barring Karnataka have proved to be, Modi is learnt to have underlined the need to build people-to-people ties; and build bridges with communities that can contribute to the party’s expansion in the areas typically strongholds of regional parties.
According to people aware of the details, Modi spoke about the need to cultivate linguistic groups, and castes that are numerically weak in some states but counted as a larger entity in the country and engage with those politically opposed to the party and its ideology.
“He cited the example of the Sikh community and said to strengthen ties with them the party should not limit its outreach towards the community to Punjab alone, where they are present in large numbers. He said the party must focus on organizing programmers and events for communities even in states where they are not domiciled. For instance, there can be a programmed for Malayalis living in Mumbai or Tamilians in Delhi, this in turn would make these people ambassadors of the party in their respective states,” the functionary quoted above said.
Modi is also learnt to have referred to amicable ties between the BJP and the Bohra Muslims as an example of engagement not bound by politics. “He said the Bohras are not opposed to the BJP, and may not vote for us but it is important to have friendly ties with them. As a national party we need to strengthen national unity and create space for intellectuals who do not accept their clergy, but are also not with us,” the functionary said.
The outreach towards castes and communities is the BJP’s bid to shed its image as that of a majoritarian entity and refute the opposition’s charge of fostering polarization to build a Hindu vote bank.
“There was a reiteration of setting the narrative, pivoting it on issues of development and welfare, refraining from the commentary that drives the attention away from the serious work that the party is doing,” the functionary said.
This message was particularly meant for ministers, legislators, and lawmakers who hit the headlines for making incendiary comments. “The PM often cautions party leaders about the tendency to be in the news. He has in the past referred to it as chappas and dikhas ki bimari [those who want to be seen and heard]. Now, with elections on the horizon, he wants the focus on what was delivered,” a second party leader said.
The need to keep the spotlight on the development agenda is also an acknowledgment of the benefits that the party has accrued from social welfare schemes such as the Awas Yojna that offers subsidized housing for the poor in addition to scholarships, free ration, and healthcare.
The beneficiaries of social welfare schemes or “labarthis” as they are known in political parlance are a constituency outside the purview of caste and religion that the BJP has been assiduously wooing.
The constant reiteration of the Modi government’s welfare schemes is also an attempt to mitigate the opposition’s attempts to claim the mantle of welfarism based on poll promises of reverting to the old pension scheme, free units of power, loan waivers, and other sops.
In Himachal Pradesh, the BJP’s inability to retain power was largely attributed to Congress’s promise to revert to the pension plan.
On the issue of taking on the opposition, Modi is said to have urged the leaders to find newer ways of penetrating across regions. “He said we are not in the opposition anymore. In certain states, where we are not in power, we need to change tack and learn new skills and new perspectives. He also said that we need to give credit to the people’s mandate for policies and decisions whether related to security or economy,” the second leader said.
A third leader said Modi specified that the opposition’s attempts to derail initiatives or misguide people as they did when they questioned the efficacy of the Indian vaccines need to be exposed.
Modi’s message of intensifying outreach and carrying out yatras, the third leader said, has a twin purpose. “One was to repeat his earlier instruction of not slacking or becoming complacent. And the second was to underline the supremacy of the organisation. In several states, the party units are in disarray and the lack of cohesion between leaders is weakening the party,” said the third leader.
Modi was particular that there was no room for one-upmanship and that no leader is above the organisation. “Karyakartas [workers] work for the Sangahtan [organisation] and not vice versa,” the third leader said.
