Bharatiya Janata Party national president J P Nadda, while addressing the party’s elected representatives in Rajkot on Tuesday, said “there was nothing to worry about” for the party, as people say many things when an election approaches.
Claiming that the BJP was the only party in the country which had an ideology, the party chief took a jibe at other parties alleging that they were run by families.
“Whenever election comes, people get anxious and talk about a lot of things…. I want to say that there is nothing to be worried about. You belong to a party which has 18 crore workers,” Nadda said.
Taking a dig at Congress for its ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’ as well as its official name, Nadda said, “Congress party is neither Indian nor National nor it is Congress. This is a party of a brother and a sister,” apparently referring to Rahul Gandhi and his sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra.
Nadda, who is on a two-day visit to poll-bound Gujarat, said: “Instead of Bharat Jodo Yatra, the Congress should be doing Congress Jodo Yatra at a time when leaders with decades of experience are leaving the party.”
Nadda also ridiculed other regional parties, saying how they were being run by families rather than an ideology like the BJP. He counted leaders of Peoples Democratic Party and National Conference in Kashmir, Shiromani Akali Dal in Punjab, Samajwadi Party in Uttar Pradesh, Rashtriya Janata Dal in Bihar, TRS in Telangana, and All India Trinamool Congress in West Bengal, among others.
“Youth Day used to be celebrated when a son was born, and to mark the birth of a baby girl, women's day was observed. These were the rules and principles of political parties,” the BJP national president said, adding “Elections are coming but there is nothing to panic. We only have to keep working towards our goal.”
Questioning whether any of these parties had any ideology, Nadda said, “Only a BJP worker can proudly claim that our party is the only party with an ideology.”
He also mentioned that the abrogation of Article 370, which removed the special status of Jammu and Kashmir, was part of the BJP’s ideology of “Ek desh ek vidhan” (One country one legislation).
Nadda’s “nothing to worry” comment, however, comes when his visit was to dampen the popularity of the Aam Aadmi Party in the state, with its promises of free power, and unemployment allowances, among others as part of its election promise.
BJP’s state president C R Paatil, in a veiled attack, said during his speech: “There is an attempt to create hurdles in Gujarat’s development. An anti-Gujarat is being projected as the future chief minister. I want to say that first, they need to open an account and then talk about forming a government here. The revdi (freebie) will not lure a single person here as Gujarati work hard to make their ends meet.”
AAP’s national convener Arvind Kejriwal, too, was in the state campaigning—however in Vadodara. There he announced support to government employees protesting for reinstating the old pension scheme. Kejriwal also alleged that the BJP was threatening those who were helping AAP.