Prime Minister Narendra Modi praised Amit Shah on Thursday for his three successful years as BJP president.
Speaking at a BJP parliamentary party meeting, the PM complimented Shah on his election to the Rajya Sabha and also for having worked like a common worker to strengthen the party's base, bringing back the culture of hard work seen in the Jan Sangh days, party sources said. The PM said in a lighter vein that the BJP chief's presence in Parliament might ensure the attendance of other members, sources said. The PM used the opportunity to once again express displeasure over party MPs skipping parliamentary proceedings, sometimes despite a whip. The PM noted that members had been cautioned against it on many occasions, sources said.
Others present at the meeting also congratulated Shah for his election to the Upper House from Gujarat and on completing three years as BJP chief, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar said.
He said that the PM praised Shah's strategy and tireless efforts, "like a common worker", to expand the BJP's footprints across the country.
Modi said it was difficult to run the affairs of a ruling party as the government often faced a lot of questions.
The PM said it was easy to run a political party while being in the Opposition but relatively difficult when it was in power. Expanding the organisation against this backdrop was a challenge and Shah lived up to it in a very skillful manner, the PM said.
Modi said Shah steered the BJP to be the largest democratic political party in the world, according to those who attended the meeting.
Shah referred to the recent victory of senior Congress leader Ahmed Patel, following a close contest for the third Rajya Sabha seat from Gujarat against the BJP nominee.
He said the Opposition party was in such a "poor shape" due to desertion by its membersthat it managed to win the seat by a margin of less than one vote.
It was the first meeting of the BJP parliamentary party attended by Shah after his election to the Rajya Sabha.
The BJP is the successor to the Bharatiya Jan Sangh, which had merged into the Janata Party in 1977. The BJP was formed in 1980.
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