 "Venkaiah Naidu")
During the 1975-77 Emergency rule, then Congress party president D K Barooah famously said of then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi that 'Indira is India and India is Indira'.
On Sunday, Union cabinet minister Venkaiah Naidu, also a former national head of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), said at its national executive meeting that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was God's gift to India and a messiah for the poor.
Naidu, minister of parliamentary affairs, urban development and housing, lauded Modi's leadership while moving the political resolution on the concluding day of the two-day meeting. In the resolution, the BJP says nationalism is an article of faith for it and a "very microscopic minority is today indulging in a kind of demagogy that goes against the very essence of our Constitution".
Talking of the destruction of Bharat can't be supported in the name of freedom of expression, it says. "Similarly, refusal to hail Bharat - say Bharat Mata ki Jai - in the name of freedom is also unacceptable."
In his speech, Naidu praised the PM as the 'Modifier of Developed India', that is MODI. And, that "India is recognised and respected everywhere because of Prime Minister Modi…Modi is God's gift for India. He is the messiah of the poor. He inherited challenges in each and every sector. He is steering clear of them."
Later, addressing the media, Home Minister Rajnath Singh evaded questions on whether Naidu termed the PM as God's gift. "I am not here to comment on what Naiduji said...I didn't quite catch his speech."
Naidu also said the PM made it to Time magazine's list of 100 most influential people in 2015 and this year he is listed as one of 30 most influential people. "The PM is seen as the leader of the largest democracy on the global scale. With over 18 million Twitter followers and 32 million Facebook likes… (his) popularity has risen to the new level. His wax statue will now be unveiled in London's Madame Tussaud's museum."
In his speech, the PM asked party workers to reach out to Dalits, tribals, poor, farmers, youth, women and the disadvantaged. He said workers shouldn't get distracted by "unimportant issues" raised by opponents; they should focus on the party's agenda and that of the government.
The BJP will be starting a 10-day programme of reaching out to Dalits and village panchayats, to showcase the government's achievements.
Party chief Amit Shah reiterated that while criticism of the party, the government and its leadership is permissible, no criticism of the country or those calling for its disintegration will be tolerated.
The political resolution focused on the achievements of the Modi government, including providing the country a corruption- free and stable leadership.
