BJP Naidu's Prseidential Address

[Guest guest]

National Executive Meeting

December 23, 2002 [Parliament Annexe, New Delhi]

 

BHARATIYA JANATA PARTY

National Executive Meeting

Presidential Address

By

Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu

New Delhi - 23.12. 2002

 

Adaraneeya Shri Atalji, Adaraneeya Shri Advaniji, my dear colleagues

in the National Executive,

 

I extend a very warm welcome to all of you at this important meeting

of our Party National Executive. It is a meeting to rejoice, to

celebrate - and to re-dedicate ourselves to the tasks ahead.

 

Just look at the two events that flank our two-day meeting. Yesterday

we rejoiced at the swearing in of Shri Narendrabhai Modi in

Gandhinagar as the Chief Minister after a spectacular victory, which

gave our Party a renewed mandate in the just-concluded elections to

the Gujarat Legislative Assembly.

 

And day after tomorrow we will celebrate the 78th birthday of our

beloved leader and Prime Minister, Shri Atalji. It is a very special

day for us-indeed, for all the people of India. In Shri Atalji we have

a mahapurush leading this mahaan nation. His wisdom, sagacity,

experience and his personal quality of carrying people of all shades

along are priceless assets for our Party and our Nation.

 

Shri Atalji, the founder of our Party and the fountain of inspiration

for all of us, has always been very dear to us, very special to us.

And we too -- all the lakhs of our Party karyakartas - claim a special

place in his heart. After all, Shri Atalji himself was also a

karyakarta like all of us - hardworking, dedicated and fully committed

to the cause of the Party and Nation. Hence, it is with immense love

that I, on behalf of all of you, and on behalf of all the members of

this great Party extend our heartiest felicitations to Shri Atalji on

his birthday.

 

We have decided to celebrate his birthday - this year and in future -

as Vikas Divas or Development Day. We will use this occasion to spread

his great message - Let us make India a Developed Nation by following

the mantra of "Vikas, Teji se Vikas, Santulit Vikas aur Sab ka Vikas".

 

For this, I have asked the General Secretaries to draw up a programme

from December 25 to January 12, which is Swami Vivekananda Jayanti. I

would like Members of the Executive to give their ideas and

suggestions to make this programme a success.

 

Let us replicate the Gujarat Spirit

 

Friends, I now turn to the other cause of our rejoicing. Today, on

behalf of all of you and on behalf of millions of workers and

supporters of the BJP, I extend the heartiest of congratulations to

Shri Narendrabhai, Shri Keshubhai, Shri Rajendra Singh Rana and all

our dear colleagues in the Gujarat unit for securing a historic

victory for the Party in the Assembly elections. Your victory has

electrified the atmosphere in the country and energized the rank and

file of our Party everywhere. Today I also applaud the work of Shri

Arun Jaitley, Shri Sanjaybhai Joshi, Shri Ramdas Agarwal and Shri

Naqvi at the Party headquarters who lent excellent support to the

Gujarat team. The entire Party worked as a team.

 

Today, I must also express our grateful appreciation of the guidance

we received from Shri Advaniji throughout the Gujarat campaign, in

which he himself participated tirelessly. The Prime Minister addressed

four very useful meetings in the four regions. A number of Central

Ministers and other Party leaders participated actively in the

campaign. The campaign management, media and publicity management,

logistics management - all this was conducted in a highly professional

manner.

 

Hence, if anybody asks us whether we would repeat the Gujarat

'experiment' elsewhere, our answer should be: "Yes, we shall replicate

our Gujarat 'experience' everywhere, because in Gujarat we have again

proved to ourselves that collective work is the key to success."

 

Modi versus Sonia - It was an unequal contest

 

Today, my very special applause is reserved for Shri Narendrabhai, who

fought like a lion in the face of unprecedented calumny against him

and our Party, and made, on counting day, his opponents run for cover.

This election was not a Modi vs. Vaghela contest. The Congress Party

and the Leftist Lobby made it into a Modi vs. Sonia contest. The

results have shown what an unequal bout it was.

 

Friends, this election will be remembered not only for the nature and

scale of our victory, but also for the viciousness of the anti-BJP,

anti-Hindutva and - if I have to call a spade a spade - anti-Hindu

campaign conducted by the Congress and the Communists before, during

and, sadly, even after the polls. The Congress President took the lead

by making many highly objectionable pronouncements, perhaps the most

offensive and outlandish of which was her charge that Gujarat, the

land of Gandhi, was turning into the land of Godse! This was a slur on

the asmita and atma-gaurav of the people of Gujarat, forcing Shri

Narendra Modi to launch his Gaurav Yatra. Today the whole world knows

what the response of the people of Gujarat to this Yatra was.

 

The outcome of this election has demolished the myth that the Congress

is getting revived on account of its leadership.

 

The real significance of the Gujarat mandate

 

It is sad to say the least that the Congress party has learnt no

lessons from its debacle in Gujarat. Consider the Congress President's

flare-up, after five days of stunned silence, that the BJP won in

Gujarat by "spreading poison". Other Congress leaders have said that

we won by playing the politics of "threats and intimidation". Rather

than accepting defeat gracefully, Congress leaders have again resorted

to falsehood, thereby again insulting the people of Gujarat. That

there was a 90 per cent turnout of minorities in a violence-free

election disproves their bogus allegation.

 

The message that flowed from a record turnout of 62 per cent of the

people of Gujarat is sought to be distorted by the vanquished and

frustrated political forces who never had any clue as to what was at

stake in Gujarat elections. As the Gujarat election process peaked,

the national perception crystallized the central issues as terrorism

and extremism and political opportunism. Our political adversaries

were rightly recognised as those willing to compromise on national

interests for short-term votebank considerations. The people of this

country had been watching in anguish as the country was being bled by

terrorists and extremist forces over the last twenty years. Gujarat

elections offered an opportunity to effectively articulate their

concerns on these larger issues and it was the BJP that was

overwhelmingly seen by the people of Gujarat as a Party that

understood their anguish and concerns, and was determined to address

with firmness and farsightedness.

 

The voters of Gujarat reposed their faith in the BJP yet again because

the choice before them was very clear. It was between the forces of

nationalism and the forces of pseudo-secularism. Gujarat was hence not

a mere political victory for BJP, but it was a mandate for the

ideology that has always held the nation's interest as its core strength.

 

We shall make Gujarat an 'Aadarsh Pradesh'

 

Today I have a message for our Party colleagues in Gujarat. The

elections are now behind us and our tasks and duties are before us.

Not only the people of Gujarat, but the people all over the country,

will keenly watch how our Government will perform. As before, we

should - and I am sure we will - prove all our opponents wrong. I

congratulate Shri Narendra Modi for unambiguously declaring, both

before and after the elections, that he stands for the unity, dignity,

welfare and development of all the five crore people of Gujarat,

without any distinction or discrimination.

 

The BJP assures one and all that our practice shall be true to our

motto -- "Justice for All and Appeasement of None", in contrast to the

Congress party's long record of "Appeasement of Minorityism and

Injustice for Minorities". I urge our minority brethren to see through

this cynical game, shun the Congress and other pseudo-secular parties

everywhere, and forge a new equation of mutual understanding with the

BJP to further the cause of national integration, nation building, and

their own welfare. Vote bank politics has done incalculable damage to

the minorities and it is time they realized it.

 

Our Party has strongly and unequivocally condemned the violence, both

Godhra and post-Godhra. The State Government did its best to contain

the situation. There can be no justification for shedding the blood of

innocent people, irrespective of the caste or community they belong

to, in a civilized society.

 

I wish to assure the people of our country on one more score. We are

determined to make Gujarat a Model State, an Adarsh Pradesh, free of

fear, full of opportunities, a State whose economy will be put on a

track of rapid growth, and in which the fruits of development will

reach all its people fairly, but especially to the poor and the

marginalized of all communities. I have full confidence that this will

happen because the people of Gujarat are hardworking and entrepreneurial.

 

'Vijay Parv' and the tasks it imposes on us

 

Friends, from one victory it is time to march towards many victories.

If Goa signified a turnaround, Gujarat marked the beginning of "Vijay

Parv" as our Hon'ble Prime Minister has so aptly described it. This

Parv will see our Party's victory in many States which are going to

the polls in 2003, and it will be crowned by the BJP winning a bigger

mandate, in the 2004 Parliamentary elections.

 

In Gujarat, we have scored a hat trick - by winning consecutively in

1995, 1998 and 2002. Similarly, we shall score a hat trick at the

Centre by winning in 1998, 1999 and 2004. I have defined our target as

300 seats for the BJP in the next Lok Sabha elections. I did not say

so as a wild guestimate. I always believed that one day our Nation

would travel on the path of the ideology that has all along been

guiding us and that moment of reckoning is not very far. But to make

that tryst with destiny, we have to gear ourselves up and get our act

together.

 

Right now, our immediate task is to gear up for the forthcoming

Assembly elections in nine States. Wherever the Congress is in harness

in these States, its defeat is a certainty, a writing on the wall. The

by-elections in Rajasthan and Assam are a barometer to the mood and

mind of the people. Hence, my first appeal to all of you is to plunge

headlong into preparations for the coming Assembly elections, leaving

nothing to chance and attending to every single detail well in

advance. Our thrust should be on three main areas:

 

1: Campaign against the non-performance of Congress governments and

in-fighting in the Congress party

 

We must begin by mounting a powerful people's campaign against the

non-performance, misrule, inefficiency, corruption, worsening law and

order situation and non-fulfillment of promises, which is in evidence

everywhere in Congress-ruled States. We must also expose how the

Congress leaders are engrossed more in in-fighting and power struggles

than in the development of their States and the welfare of their people.

 

Examples abound. Both in MP and Rajasthan, poor people are condemned

to be victims of hunger and starvation, even though the Centre has

provided more than adequate amount of foodgrains. That hunger-related

deaths have taken place in the midst of plenty in Madhya Pradesh and

Rajasthan should make the head of every Congressman hang in shame. It

is the responsibility of the State Governments to ensure proper

implementation of the Antyodaya Anna Yojana, which is the most

comprehensive and cheapest ever food security scheme for the poorest

five crore people in our country, and the Food for Work Programme

incorporated into the Sampoorna Rozgar Yojana. However, Congress

governments are showing shocking apathy in implementing them.

 

Atrocities against women, Dalits and other weaker sections have come

to be a regular feature in States under the care of Congress

Governments. In Jammu & Kashmir, Congress is a party to unacceptable

compromises by releasing terrorists.

 

We see that in MP, the Chief Minister and the Deputy Chief Minister

are at loggerheads. In Rajasthan, people are thoroughly disillusioned

with the non-performance of the Congress Government. In Karnataka,

allowing Veerappan to roam, kidnap and kill freely is an example of

the State Government's total incompetence. In Kerala, the Government

has no money even to pay employees' salaries. Yet, the former Chief

Minister and the present Chief Minster are involved in an ugly battle,

thus paralyzing the State administration. In Maharashtra, the PCC

president regularly fires salvos against his own government - both

against the Chief Minister and the NCP, which is an alliance partner.

In Assam, the Chief Minister does not seem to be in command at all.

 

In Chhattisgarh, a former Congress Chief Minister is openly speaking

out against the Chief Minister, declaring that this is the most

corrupt government he has ever seen. Meanwhile, the Chief Minister is

practicing the politics of manipulation and has become infamous for

the persecution of the Opposition. Dissatisfaction and dissent is fast

brewing in Punjab. The talk of the town in Punjab is that the Congress

has a three-point agenda - Badli, Badla and Badal. The Delhi

Government has only a one-point agenda: that of forgetting its

responsibilities and accusing the Centre everyday for everything.

 

The deception and double standards of the Congress party are also

evident in providing free power before elections in Punjab and giving

no power after elections. Now the same party is promising free power

in Andhra Pradesh.

 

Our Party workers must also highlight how the Chief Ministers of

Chhattisgarh and Punjab, just to divert people's attention from the

non-performance of their own governments, resorted to the most

undignified acts of gimmickry in Delhi by holding dharnas and courting

arrests in front of the Prime Minister's residence. Never in the

history of independent India has such disrespect to the office of the

Prime Minister been shown by Chief Ministers. This demonstrates the

depth of degeneration in the Congress party's culture.

 

Our Party workers must seek to emulate the excellent work done by the

State BJP Units of Rajasthan and Jharkhand where the party

comprehensively won the recent bye-elections. I compliment the State

President and other leaders of the party in both states.

 

2: Campaign against pseudo-secularism and our opponents' indifference

to threats to India's national security

 

Friends, I have said it before and I say it again today. There is no

need to be apologetic about our ideology of Cultural Nationalism, nor

about our firm commitment to the common agenda of the National

Democratic Alliance. Ek Haath Mein BJP Ka Jhanda, Doosre Haath Mein

NDA Agenda - that is our line.

 

We should firmly expose our adversaries' politics of defaming our

Party and our ideology, and of compromising on issues that weaken

national security. Thus, our Party should campaign for a an effective

nationwide law against conversion by fraudulent means. This is not

merely an issue that legitimately agitates all Hindus, but it is

closely linked to the interests of national integration, national

security and social cohesion. Everybody should understand that

conversions by fraudulent means are not tolerated in any country.

Hence, they cannot be justified under a perverse definition of

secularism. The Party has to mobilize strong public opinion to ensure

that all State governments pass this law.

 

I would like to urge the Government to take early steps for scrapping

the IMDT in Assam, which has failed to achieve the purpose. Illegal

and large-scale influx of Bngladeshis into India is not a Hindu-Muslim

question but one that is directly linked to our national unity and

national security and national economy. We cannot be unmindful of the

growing presence of Al-Qaida in Bangladesh, its links to the ISI, and

their sinister designs against India, both in the short-term and

long-term.

 

POTA needs to be effectively used to contain terrorism. The turn of

events in Jammu & Kashmir should be an eye opener. Despite the

Congress-PDP combine's overtures towards forces speaking for those

believing in terrorism, one PDP legislator was killed.

 

The entire country is relieved at the judgement of the POTA court

against the accused in the Black December terrorist attack on

Parliament. It is not surprising that voices of protest are being

heard from divisive and some pseudo-secular forces. It is amazing that

we have leaders and parties who build defences for conspirators

involved in this anti-national attack on Parliament. I am at a loss to

understand as to how there could be human rights for terrorists who

believe in killing innocent people. There cannot be progress without

peace. And we cannot have peace in an environment of social tensions,

extremism, etc. Terrorism is a challenge that needs to be squarely

addressed and that is the message of Gujarat. Terrorism spares

none--not innocents, not those who oppose it and certainly not those

who are soft on it.

 

Our Party workers should strongly and unapologetically defend the

NCERT's effort to remove the distortions in our school textbooks,

introduced in the past by Communist and pseudo-secular intellectuals.

 

The Gujarat message is loud and clear. The message is that in the name

of politically motivated secularism, the countrymen are not willing

any more to tolerate either the Hindu-bashing or the double standards

being resorted to by certain political parties. For us development is

the mantra and hence we believe in ushering in prosperity in an

atmosphere of peace.

 

Today, I would also like to make an appeal to those who speak in the

name of Hindutva but whose pronouncements sometimes sound as if they

are only reacting to the extremism and intolerance that has taken

roots across the border. Hindutva is a noble and elevating concept and

as the Supreme Court has rightly declared. The BJP is firm in its

belief that Hindutva and extremism cannot go together, Hindutva and

intolerance cannot go together. The Supreme Court has in the context

stated : "Thus it cannot be doubted, particularly in view of the

constitutional bench decision of this court that the words 'Hinduism'

and 'Hindutava' are not necessary understood and construed narrowly,

centred only to the strict Hindu religious practices unrelated to the

culture and ethics of the people of India, the way of life of the

Indian people ................. considering the terms "Hinduism" or

"Hindutava" per se as depicting hostility, enmity or intolerance

towards other religious faiths or professing communalism, proceeds

from improper appreciation and perception of the true meaning of these

expressions emerging from a detailed discussion in the earlier

authorities of this court."

 

3: Campaign for highlighting the landmark achievements and unique

initiatives of the NDA Government

 

We are indeed happy that under the able leadership of our beloved

Prime Minister, the Government rose to the occasion and effectively

addressed the problem of drought in several parts of the country. The

Government has also taken concrete initiatives in the direction of

some far reaching outcomes as in the case of linking of rivers. A Task

Force under an able person has already been set up. This long awaited

Development project is the crystallization of the will of the nation.

Linking of rivers is yet another vindication of our commitment to

`Knit India' together. Rapid progress on the Golden Quadrilateral part

of the national highway project is being hailed all over the country

and abroad. Setting up of Rs.17,000 crore Special Railway Safety Fund,

launching of Rs.15,000-crore National Rail Vikas Yojana for

strengthening the high density rail network and connectivity with

Ports are some of the biggest initiatives since Independence for the

development of the long-neglected railway infrastructure. At the same

time, I urge the NDA Government to take similar big initiatives in the

welfare sector. There is a need to expand the scope of the

Comprehensive Crop Insurance Scheme to cover more crops, more areas

and more farmers. Three crore Kisan Credit Cards have already been

issued and I urge the Government to ensure coverage of all eligible

farmers by March 2004. Raja Rajeswari, Bhagya Shree, Ashray Beema

Yojana need to be further popularized. BJP workers have to take active

interest in mobilizing and involving the people in these schemes. The

Government should also focus attention on the mobilization of

additional resources and proper implementation of Pradhan Mantri

Grameen Sadak Yojana, a novel project for enhancing rural road

connectivity.

 

The Government should come out at the earliest with a new

Constitutional amendment to empower Panchayati Raj and local bodies

with effective financial and administrative powers.

 

Friends, the Central Government has also succeeded in getting the nod

of the Parliament for some historic Bills. These include those

cracking down heavily on defaulters of bank loans, ensuring the right

to information, conferring the right to education on the future hope

of our country, as also those relating to electoral reforms and

environmental protection. We are proud that we have been able to

create a situation in which there is no waiting list, queue, shortage

or black market, be it telephone connection, gas connection, cement,

sugar or food grains. What I am trying to highlight is that we have

done enough to stake claim to the confidence of the people. At the

same time there is much more still to be done and so we should never

be complacent.

 

Implement the tasks mandated in Delhi Sankalp

 

Friends, the three-pronged campaign effort that I have outlined above

is externally directed. But we also need to intensify another effort,

which should be internally directed. And this is the imperative to

strengthen our organization and remove the shortcomings in the

functioning of our various State units, district units, and local

units. The tasks involved in this regard are set forth in an elaborate

manner in the Delhi Sankalp, which we adopted at the National Council

meeting in August. I do not wish to reiterate them.

 

However, the very fact that I am referring to this issue again shows

that addressing it - and redressing the maladies in the organization -

is critical for achieving our immediate-term and long-term objectives.

The serious developments in the legislature Party in UP recently - and

similar developments in Chhattisgarh and Karnataka earlier -- have

deeply disappointed and distressed our karyakartas as well our

supporters. I call upon the Party cadres to always bear in mind that

we are a Party with a Difference. Every leader in the Party shall

always be guided by the fact that their behaviour has a bearing on the

Party. I wish to make it very clear that the Party will come down very

heavily against those crossing the Lakshman Rekha.

 

I, along with the General Secretaries and other office-bearers, have

begun the massive exercise of reaching out to the Party workers

throughout the country. We have has successful Zonal conferences,

direct interaction with District Presidents and State Council meetings

as part of the effort to widen our social and political base and to

further energise the organization. At this juncture I am happy to

state that Gaon Chalo Abhiyan (Go to Villages) has received tremendous

response. We need to cover every village in every region before the

next round of elections. I am also happy to acknowledge that

coordination between the Government and the Party, the Party and the

Cadres and the Cadres and the people have significantly improved and

it shall provide necessary momentum for further action. As a result of

these efforts, our workers have got galvanized all over the country.

 

Friends, I would like to make it clear that it is not enough to harp

on the failures of our opponents. You may also recall that in the last

National Council meeting, soon after assuming the Presidentship of the

party, I suggested a mid-term appraisal of the performance of the

Central Government, so that necessary corrective measures could be

taken as warranted. I have also underscored the need for introspection

at all levels with a view to improve the health of the Party. I have

also mentioned that as a Party we have only traveled half way and have

miles to go still. It is necessary for all of us to remember that

every individual, institution and political party has to have the

necessary ability and honesty to identify and address shortcomings for

a focused, well defined and productive journey ahead. I am happy to

say that the introspection and evaluation efforts put in by the Party

and the Government have begun to yield dividends. We need to carry it

forward with enhanced vigour and commitment to achieve our goals.

 

I would like to once again reiterate that we have only traveled

halfway. Our destination is still ahead.

 

Thank you.

 

 

Vande Mataram.