A BJP leader said Prime Minister Narendra Modi wants ministers to “step out of the comforts of New Delhi” and “hit the road” so they can “reach out to the people” during the month-long programme, called Vikas Parv or festival of development. PTI Photo
To celebrate two years of the NDA government, the BJP is set to kick-start a programme from May 26 in Saharanpur, Uttar Pradesh, which will go on till June 24 and cover 200 towns and cities.
A BJP leader said Prime Minister Narendra Modi wants ministers to “step out of the comforts of New Delhi” and “hit the road” so they can “reach out to the people” during the month-long programme, called Vikas Parv or festival of development. Modi and Home Minister Rajnath Singh are expected to attend the launch event on May 26 in Saharanpur.
The entire cabinet has been asked to address rallies, press conferences and meetings with “youths” and “intellectuals” at locations assigned to them.
BJP member Dr Anil Jain is working from the party office at Ashoka Road to give final touches to the event and ensure that thousands turn up at rallies of cabinet ministers and BJP leaders.
Several teams have been formed, each comprising a cabinet minister, a Minister of State and an office bearer of the BJP, to visit six places, including towns, metros and district headquarters. BJP leaders said the idea is to cover all metros and major towns.
For example, one of the teams, comprising Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, MoS Upendra Kushwaha and Rajya Sabha MP Prabhat Jha, will participate in programmes in Lucknow on May 27. Uttar Pradesh has got the maximum attention as assembly polls are due there early next year.
A senior BJP leader said the government and the party are not satisfied with the “quality of coverage” the government’s achievements have been getting in the media.
“This is a serious effort to speak about our work and achievements of the last two years,” said MoS (independent charge) Dharmendra Pradhan, who heads the team comprising MoS Ram Kripal Yadav and BJP office bearer and chief of its kisan cell Vijay Pal Tomar.
Pradhan’s team is supposed to cover Rajahmundry in Andhra Pradesh, Silchar in Assam, Muzaffarpur in Bihar, Faizabad in Uttar Pradesh, Srinagar in Uttarakhand and Sangli in Maharashtra.
The project to distribute free cooking gas to five crore Indian homes, headed by Pradhan’s Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, is one of the things the government wants to highlight.
All cabinet ministers have been asked to mention the scheme at press conferences and in their interactions with people.
BJP president Amit Shah will participate in the Vikas Parv in Hyderabad on May 28. He also plans to touch base with people in Andaman, Imphal , Shillong and three cities in Uttar Pradesh.
His office has already collected data on 15,000 villages that have got electricity for the first time. This, along with the free cooking gas scheme, Fasal Bima Yojana and Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana, are the key points Shah plans to focus on.
