Mark Nehru birthday by visiting schools, PM tells NDA MPs

Shiv Sena attends the Diwali Milan; representatives asked to think ambitiously on a new course, work together

Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a ‘Diwali Milan’ (get-together) on Sunday for the nearly 400 Members of Parliament  of the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA), including its 57 MPs in the Rajya Sabha, at his 7, Race Course Road, residence.

He urged all of them to visit schools for a five-day period from November 14, the 125th birth anniversary of Jawaharlal Nehru, to teach children the importance of hygiene.

The Shiv Sena’s members of both Houses of Parliament were present, a matter of prior speculation in the backdrop of the acrimonious campaign in the Maharashtra elections, and its aftermath.

Also present were members of NDA-supporting parties such as the Telugu Desam.

The speeches at the high tea focused on the Modi government initiatives such as the Swachh Bharat (Clean India) campaign. And, preparations for next month’s winter session of Parliament. According to sources, there was no public discussion on the Bharatiya Janata Party’s strategy vis-a-vis the Sena in Maharashtra.

Off the record, BJP seniors have told Business Standard their party was unwilling to accede to the Sena’s demand for it to be given the post of deputy chief minister. However, they said, they’d be happy to give ministerial positions in the Maharashtra government, commensurate with that party’s legislative strength. Home Minister Rajnath Singh, along with party general secretary J P Nadda, will be in Mumbai on Tuesday to attend the  legislative party meeting, where its new MLAs will elect their leader.

Modi, according to a press statement the BJP issued after the event, said the NDA MPs together represented a force with tremendous positive energy that could help chart a new course for the country. “Let us think big. Let us think far. Let us think above politics,” the PM said in his address. He sought their support to take forward the Swachh Bharat campaign, which he said had got immense support from all sections of the society.

The PM asked MPs to visit schools in their areas over a five-day period beginning November 14, until the birth anniversary of former PM Indira Gandhi on November 19. He said MPs should explain to children the importance of hygiene. Modi said achieving the ideal of a clean India was tough but just as the people got together to eradicate polio, the same spirit could ensure the success of this mission, too.

He also asked MPs to take the message to the poor of schemes the NDA government had launched for them. BJP president Amit Shah made the same point.

Party patriarch L K Advani said this Diwali “was the best he had ever witnessed, as the party had risen to unprecedented heights”. Finance and Defence Minister Arun Jaitley briefed the MPs on the Jan-Dhan Yojana, coal block allocations, gas pricing and diesel deregulation.

Rural Development Minister Nitin Gadkari spoke about the MPs’ Adarsh Gram Yojana and Labour Minister Narendra Singh Tomar on the initiatives taken under the Shramev Jayate initiative. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Venkaiah Naidu shared tips on the coming session of Parliament.

Earlier, Modi, Advani and External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, among others, attended the oath-taking ceremony of the new Haryana chief minister, Manohar Lal Khattar, at Panchkula.