At national executive, BJP to showcase impact of Mudra loans

Modi and Shah's teams to witness changes in view of UP polls

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will meet for its two-day national executive in Allahabad from Sunday. The meeting will be a precursor to the restructuring of the party hierarchy and a minor reshuffle of Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led cabinet in view of assembly elections to five states by early 2017, including to the key state of Uttar Pradesh.

There is a likelihood of the inclusion of faces from UP in the cabinet, while the party could see Dalit faces in BJP President Amit Shah’s team of 39 office bearers. Currently, there isn’t a single Dalit in Shah’s team and only one Dalit in the list of 10 national spokespersons of the party. Shah has made the outreach to Dalits as the leitmotif of BJP’s election campaign in UP.

The meeting will mull over the contours of the BJP and the government’s political and economic messaging in the run up to the assembly elections. The resolutions to be adopted will be keenly watched on how the government plans to carry out its pro-poor and pro-farmer agenda. BJP’s Bengaluru national executive in April 2015 had stressed on Antyodaya — working for the welfare of the poorest. The Delhi national executive in March had given the call of “Gramodaya” or development of villages.

As has been usual for the last couple of national executives, the meeting will adopt at least three resolutions — customary resolutions on political and economic situations. The previous two executives had also adopted a resolution congratulating Modi on his foreign policy successes. This time the executive will pass a third resolution to mark the successes of two years of Modi government.

The political resolution will take stock of the just concluded elections in five states and is likely to commend party Shah as well as Modi’s leadership for leading the BJP to an unprecedented victory in Assam, improved performance in Kerala and party’s expansion into its non-traditional areas in the states along the Coromandel coast in the south and northeastern states.

It will also give indications to the future strategy for Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Goa, Manipur and Uttarakhand polls, which are due by early 2017. The choice of Allahabad is also well thought out — it being not only the centre of UP but also for its religious and cultural importance. The PM will address a public rally on Monday.

The resolution on economic issues will discuss the government’s successes on the front, particularly the growth in Gross Domestic Product. It is also likely to discuss how the Mudra Bank loans have reached women, minorities, Other Backward Classes and Dalits. “Numbers from the banks tell us a story that Mudra has empowered the marginalised,” a BJP leader involved with drafting of the resolutions said.

According to the leader, 34.8 million Mudra bank loans have been disbursed thus far. As many as 79 per cent beneficiaries are women. Of the total loans disbursed, over 13 million have been to Scheduled Tribes and six million to minorities.