Criticism of party, govt and leadership persmissible, not of the nation: Amit Shah

He appealed to party leaders to take the message of the Narendra Modi government to the people that it was 'pro-farmer and pro-poor'

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) President Amit Shah on Saturday told a meeting of the party's National Executive that while criticism of the BJP, the government and its leadership was permissible, no criticism of the nation will be tolerated.

The BJP national executive, only the second since the party won the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, began here on Saturday. In his speech, Shah appealed to party leaders to take the message of the Narendra Modi government to the people that it was “pro-farmer and pro-poor”. He also asked them to tell people that the Congress party was putting obstacles in the path of development and its demands for amendments to the Goods and Services Tax (GST) were unworkable.

While Shah showcased some of the farmer and poor friendly steps announced in the Budget, a significant part of his speech focused on the events at the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) and the issue of nationalism. The BJP president tried to draw a parallel between those students who allegedly raised anti-national slogans and Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi. He said the Congress leader on his visit to JNU defended the "anti-national" slogans as freedom of expression.

He said Congress and the Left parties had no moral right to teach the Narendra Modi government lessons on freedom of expression since a Congress party government had imposed the Emergency on the country when press freedom was curbed while the Left parties idolize such leaders as China's Mao Zedong and Joseph Stalin of the former Soviet Union.

Shah, who was elected the party president for a three year term in January, wondered why there should be protests about raising of 'Bharat Mata ki Jai' slogans, when these were part of the independence movement. "Blatant anti-national activities are taking place in the pretext of freedom of expression," he said. The BJP president said that while criticism of the party, the government and its leadership was permissible, criticism of the nation cannot be tolerated.

The BJP president also spoke of attacks on BJP workers in Kerala and West Bengal. "The more they (the Left parties) oppress us, the more we will increase our strength there," he said, adding that the BJP will contest both Kerala and Bengal as a "serious political player".

He also announced that the party will celebrate the 350th birth anniversary of Guru Gobind Singh, the last Sikh guru; the 125th birth anniversary of BR Ambedkar and centenary years of Jan Sangh icons Deen Dayal Upadhyay and Nanaji Deshmukh. The decision to celebrate Guru Gobind Singh's birth anniversary coincides with Punjab going for assembly elections in early 2017.

He said the Modi government represents corruption free, dynasty free government, which has provided democratic leadership and hope and stability to the nation.