Union Minister and BJP National President JP Nadda with Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Union Minister and Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular) chief Jitan Ram Manjhi during a National Democratic Alliance (NDA) meeting at his residence in New Delhi on Wednesday, December. 25, 2024 Photo credit: PTI
Leaders of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) met on Wednesday (December 25, 2024) at the residence of BJP President JP Nadda on the birth centenary of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Telugu Desam Party (TDP) President and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu, JD-U leader and Union Minister Rajeev Ranjan Singh, Apna Dal (S) President and Union Minister Anupriya Patel, as well as JD(S). ) leader and Union Minister HD Kumaraswamy, was present in the meeting.
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Bihar Hindustani Awam Morcha (S) leader Jitan Ram Manjhi, also a minister in the Modi government, Rashtriya Lok Morcha (RLM) president Upendra Kushwaha, Rajya Sabha MP and Bharat Dharma Jana Sena president Thusar Vellapalli were also present. the meeting
Sources said that although nothing was formally announced about the agenda of the meeting, good governance and political issues were discussed.
Good governance was a major theme of the Vajpayee government.
The decision was taken to hold the coalition meeting on the birth anniversary of the veteran BJP leader who took credit for successfully running the first coalition government for its full term.
“Attended a meeting of NDA leaders in New Delhi today. Under the visionary leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, India is achieving unprecedented milestones and establishing itself as a global superpower,” Mr Nadda said in a post on X after the meeting.
“The NDA government is steadfast in its pursuit of the vision of ‘Developed India @ 2047’, ensuring a brighter and more prosperous future for all,” he added.
Uttar Pradesh’s Nishad Party chief Sanjay Nishad said the NDA leaders had an “informal” meeting on the occasion of Vajpayee’s birth centenary.
‘Our future strategy is to move forward together. We have to show unity in all upcoming elections…Everyone congratulated (BJP leaders) in the meeting for victory in Haryana and Maharashtra assembly elections,” he told reporters when asked about the meeting.
Mr Nishad said the meeting also discussed the alliance’s strategy to ensure that “all the work” done by Prime Minister Modi reaches the ground and fulfills the “promises made to the people during the elections”.
He said that the issue of giving reservation to the fishing community was also raised in the meeting.
“I gave 30-37 pages of evidence on the issue of giving reservation to the fishing community because it was an election promise. They will call (us) after a week to discuss,” said Nishad.
When asked if the issue of Mr. Shah’s comment on Ambedkar was raised in the meeting, the Nishad party chief said, “…we have come for the welfare of the people, how can we succeed in that, we have to spend energy on that.”
“There is no need to respond to their stories and negative views,” he added in an apparent reference to the Congress and other opposition parties being up in arms against Mr Shah in his remarks.
The NDA meeting has been held amid the alliance’s focus on holding simultaneous elections, with all parties backing the proposal.
The meeting of the joint committee of the Parliament formed to investigate the two bills for simultaneous elections will be held on January 24.
published – December 25, 2024 at 05:58 pm IST