Nadda’s Jammu visit cancelled; holds meeting through virtual mode

STATE TIMES NEWS

JAMMU: BJP National General Secretary Tarun Chugh here on Sunday said the INDIA bloc is no threat to his party in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections as people do not want a “weak prime minister”.
“INDIA alliance is nowhere. It is like ‘Bhanumati ka kunba’ where everyone wants to be the prime minister. They are a group of family dynasts and corrupt, desperate and disappointed people. The people neither trust them nor want to give them a chance,” Chugh, who is also BJP’s incharge of Jammu and Kashmir, told reporters before the extended core-group meeting of the party.
The meeting was scheduled to be chaired by BJP president J P Nadda to discuss and finalise the party’s strategy for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections but bad weather forced last-minute cancellation of his day-long tour of Jammu.
Besides Chugh, Jammu and Kashmir BJP president Ravinder Raina, Union Minister Jitendra Singh and other senior leaders of the party, including former ministers and ex-legislators, reached the party office to attend the meeting.
“(West Bengal Chief Minister) Mamata Banerjee is not ready to give any seat to the Congress and she, along with Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge, (Bihar Chief Minister) Nitish Kumar, Akhilesh Yadav (SP), (Tamil Nadu Chief Minister) M K Stalin… all want to be the prime minister.
“It (INDIA bloc) is already in disarray and is being abandoned by its members. People do not want a weak prime minister, they want a strong PM and a decisive government, which only Modi can provide,” Chugh said.
Asked about the opposition parties’ allegations of misuse of central agencies, he said corrupt politicians who have swindled the public money have to face the law.
“The institutions of our country work independently and our government has zero tolerance against corruption. You need to have faith in law, judiciary and institutions,” he said, adding the people involved in corruption are behind the recent attack on the Enforcement Directorate team in West Bengal.
On the consecration of the Ram Temple on January 22, he said the doors of temple are open for everyone invited for the historic event which is like ‘Diwali’ for devotees of Lord Ram across the globe.
“It is not a day to spread distaste. Under Prime Minister Modi, the restoration of the Ram Temple is taking place after 450 years, giving a blow to a narrative propagated by the Gandhi family over the past seven decades. They do not want construction of the temple and left no stone unturned to stall its progress,” he said.
Referring to the abrogation of Article 370, he said Jammu and Kashmir witnessed fast-paced development and restoration of peace after August 2019 as the BJP has zero tolerance towards terrorism, he said.
BJP President J P Nadda’s scheduled visit to Jammu on Sunday was cancelled due to “bad weather”, leaving hundreds of enthusiastic party workers disappointed.
Poor visibility at the airport forced cancellation of the BJP president’s Jammu visit. He, however, held the meeting of the senior leaders through virtual mode.
Nadda was scheduled to reach Jammu on a day-long tour to chair an extended core group meeting of the BJP to discuss and finalize the party’s strategy for the next Lok Sabha elections after paying obeisance at the historic Raghunath temple.
Raina also visited the Raghunath temple to inform the waiting workers about the cancellation of Nadda’s visit.
“I salute the party workers who have turned up in large numbers both at the airport and at the historic Raghunath temple to accord a warm welcome to the party president despite inclement weather,” he said.