Nadda urges BJP workers to help people amid Covid to mark seventh anniversary of Modi govt

Nadda made it clear that no event will be held to mark the anniversary due to the circumstances caused by the pandemic

Facing "missing in action" jibe from Opposition parties, BJP chief J P Nadda has asked party workers to make the party visible and reach out to people who need help during the pandemic to mark the celebration of the seventh anniversary of the Modi government, which will be a non-pompous affair with a focus on organising various welfare events.

Reviewing the relief work being carried out by BJP workers under "Seva Hi Sangathan" programme, Nadda on Sunday said, "The devotion with which BJP workers are involved in public service, reflects the tenets (samskar) of BJP."

Also read: BJP in meeting spree after 'missing in action' charge from Opposition

Making it clear that no event will be held to mark the anniversary due to the circumstances caused by the pandemic, Nadda on Saturday wrote to Chief Ministers of 12 party-ruled states telling them the party will instead organise welfare programmes "to express gratefulness to people" for having given the BJP opportunity to serve them for two consecutive terms.

"BJP will not hold any celebratory events to mark Modi government's 7th anniversary," Nadda said in the letter.

Opposition parties have repeatedly targeted the BJP for its alleged absence from the ground during the pandemic. Congress, which seems to have taken a visible early lead in providing relief work, has launched a campaign of "missing" governance, which the BJP has in the last fortnight tried to counter aggressively.

Getting into a damage control mode, in the last one week, Nadda held back to back meetings with Chief Ministers, Party Presidents and MPs of over two dozen states and UTs -- Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Bihar, Telangana, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Jharkhand, Odisha, Delhi, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Chandigarh, Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh, Goa, Gujarat, Assam, Tripura, Arunachal Manipur, and Daman and Diu -- in which he has underlined the need for the party workers to reach help to the needy through collective efforts and asked them to spread awareness about the disease and reach all possible help.

Also read: Nadda asks BJP CMs to launch scheme for welfare of children orphaned by Covid

In the meetings, Nadda has told BJP workers to provide food, ration and medicine to the needy. Chairing a meeting on May 16 with national office bearers, Nadda asked them to reach out to people while maintaining health protocol. The same day he also flagged off Covid relief material for Himachal Pradesh.

The party workers have also been told to highlight that while BJP-led NDA state governments have made the vaccination free for people to help the poor, Opposition leaders have only been attacking the government.

Nadda said the party workers should dedicate themselves to the service of society.

On May 21, Nadda inaugurated 800 nationwide Covid-19 Help Centres of BJP Kisan Morcha that will function at community centres in rural parts and carry out relief works in rural areas under the party's Seva Hi Sangathan and Mera booth Corona Mukt campaigns. Countering criticism by Congress, Nadda had highlighted the Modi government's achievements on Covid-19 handling, from vaccination to making the country independent in the production of PPE kit, face mask and sanitiser and ensure uninterrupted supply of medical equipment.

In the letter to the party chiefs, Nadda talked about the circumstances caused by the pandemic, which he said has caused deep wounds to the nation and society with many children losing both parents to the disease.

Also read: India becomes third nation after US, Brazil to cross 3 lakh Covid-19 deaths

Telling the BJP chief ministers that it is now their responsibility to care for their future and take solid steps in this direction, Nadda told them that directives about a larger scheme to help such children and their families will be shared with them but they should on their own prepare a draft for the same keeping in mind the needs, situation and tradition of their states.

He asked the states meanwhile to prepare a programme for the welfare of children orphaned by the Covid-19 pandemic, which will be launched on May 30 when the Modi government completes seven years in power.

Nadda's letter to BJP-ruled states came two days after Congress President Sonia Gandhi had written to Prime Minister Narendra urging him to provide free education to the children whose parents have died of Covid-19. She had also given a suggestion of providing education to such children at the Navodaya Vidyalayas, whose creation across the country she had recalled in her letter, as her husband and late former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi’s legacy.

Nadda's letter says, "Standing by children who have lost both parents and providing them with every support for their safe future is also our social responsibility... The idea is that all BJP-ruled states launch the programme together when the BJP-led government at the Centre completes seven years."