BJP's golden era is yet to come: Amit Shah

BJP president Amit Shah today said the party's "golden era is yet to come" and asked leaders not to become complacent after the party's impressive electoral performance in the northeast.
The party's golden era will not come until it captures power in states like West Bengal, Kerala and Odisha, Shah said, asking leaders to aim for workers in every polling booth and representation in every panchayat in the country.
The BJP is set to form government with its partners in the northeast states of Tripura, Meghalaya and Nagaland.
"Some workers tell me that the golden era of the BJP has begun, but I want to make it clear that it is not the golden era of the party. The BJP is still not in power in states like Kerala, West Bengal, Odisha and Karnataka," Shah said at an event at Union minister Vijay Goel's house.

Party workers, he added, had no right to rest till the BJP forms government in these states, he added.
Shah was inaugurating the Namo Yojana Kendra, a centre to help people avail benefits of welfare schemes started by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Stating that the party's aim should now be to have "representatives in every panchayat and workers in every polling booth of the country", the BJP president said it was the responsibility of all BJP workers to ensure that the pace of the party's growth does not slow down.
"At times workers feel they are not part of the government and are in the organisation only. But when the party is in power, the task of the workers is very important. They have to publicise welfare schemes initiated by the government to the public and inform the government about the problems faced by the people," he said.

This two-way responsibility of the workers is vital, acting like a bridge between the people and the government, Shah added.
The party had expanded a lot under Modi and is now the world's biggest political party with more than 10 crore members, he said.
It has its own or is part of the government in 21 states, the BJP president added.
Discussing the Namo Yojana Kendra, the BJP chief said the Modi government had assured LPG cylinders, electricity connections and toilets to poor in the country.
"And I hope this centre will inform the people about all such initiatives started by the government," he added.