Finance minister Arun Jaitley, who addressed the media on Modi's valedictory address, said the UPA's land acquisition Bill was anti-farmer as it "prevented rural irrigation, roads, housing and electrification", while the NDA government's Bill "corrected" that. The political resolution adopted at the executive, which referred to Modi as "messiah" and "revered", said the party will work completely in sync with the government on its policy initiatives and schemes.
Giving a thumps up to the political and policy initiatives of the Narendra Modi government, a bullish BJP on Saturday pledged to take on the Opposition by its horns in the war of "perception" on the land acquisition Bill. The party's two-day national executive also made a resolute attempt to project itself as pro-poor and pro-farmer.
There was a consensus that while the government should go ahead with the Bill, efforts should be made to change the perception that it was anti-farmer, an issue which could have serious political ramifications.
Finance minister Arun Jaitley, who addressed the media on Modi's valedictory address, said the UPA's land acquisition Bill was anti-farmer as it "prevented rural irrigation, roads, housing and electrification", while the NDA government's Bill "corrected" that. The political resolution adopted at the executive, which referred to Modi as "messiah" and "revered", said the party will work completely in sync with the government on its policy initiatives and schemes.
It also accepted the decision to form a coalition government with the PDP in Jammu and Kashmir. While party general secretary Ram Madhav explained the context in which the party went in for an alliance, union minister Nitin Gadkari made a power-point presentation on the land Bill.
Jaitley reeled out the instances cited by Modi to underline the steps taken for the welfare of the poor and spoke of the government's trickle down model. Modi said that in Deendayal Upadhyay's centenary year 'garib kaliyan varsh', the effort will be to keep 'antyodaya' (the last man in the queue) in mind and bringing smile to the faces of the poor.
"Modi gave illustrations on how he was trying to take government in that direction... The emphasis was the kind of growth model we are presenting in which economy should grow and percolate down to the poor by way of opportunities and poverty alleviation," Jailtey said.
Modi said even the Swachh Bharat campaign was aimed at addressing the health concerns of the poor.
Jaitley said a larger part of the discussion on the land Bill involved rural infrastructure, roads, electrification and housing for poor. "Through industrial corridors, we can provide jobs for poor," he said.
However, he said though the government has brought in nine amendments, it was open to Opposition suggestions."Any good suggestion we will consider," he said. With the Congress undertaking a campaign against the Bill, the BJP would have to reach out to other opposition parties in Rajya Sabha, where it is in a minority.
He said the focus of the conclave was "active party, active membership and involving party in government's policy formulation." He said the states opposing the land Bill had the choice of not implementing it. A document to counter 'disinformation' on the Bill was also released at the conclave.
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