Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday virtually addressed members of the Bharatiya Janata Party on it's 41st foundation day.He paid homage to Syama Prasad Mookherjee and brought up a slew of recent issues, from the scrapping of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir to the Farm laws and the Citizenship Amendment Act. The PM also lauded the contributions of stalwarts Lal Krishna Advani and Murali Manohar Joshi in shaping and expanding the party.
The BJP evolved from the Bharatiya Jana Sangh which was founded by Mookherjee in 1951. Later Jana Sangh was merged with several parties in 1977 to form the Janata Party. In 1980, the National Executive Council of the Janata Party banned its members from being 'dual members' of the party and the RSS. This in turn forced the former Jana Sangh members to float a new political outfit, and the BJP came into existence on April 6, 1980.
"Our mantra has been 'Vyakti Se Bada Dal Aur Dal Se Bada Desh'. This tradition continues to this day. We fulfilled Shyama Prasad Mukherjee's vision (of one India), scrapped Article 370 and gave Kashmir the constitutional right," Modi remarked.
Speaking about the ongoing debate around the Farm laws and the CAA, Modi said that "false narratives" were being built. "It is a conspiracy to create political instability," he contended.
Modi said that it was "unfortunate" that some people were dubbing the BJP a poll-winning machine. "They don't understand Indian democracy's maturity," he added.
Visuals shared by news agency ANI also showed many BJP leaders including Party President JP Nadda congregating at the party headquarters in Delhi.