BJP asks its MPs to publicise pro-farmer aspect of Budget, highlight 'national interest' commitment

New Delhi: With the Budget Session scheduled to take go on a recess mode from Thursday, top BJP leaders on Tuesday asked party MPs to publicise the “pro-poor” and “pro-farmer” aspects of the budget during the break with the top leaders asserting that it has created a “sense of victory” among the masses. [caption id=“attachment_2675742” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Narendra Modi. Getty Images[/caption] The party’s aggressive nationalist stand on the JNU row also found a mention in the Parliamentary Party meet, which was attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and almost all top ministers, with Parliamentary Affairs Minister M Venkaiah Naidu speaking about Congress’ “self-goals” and asking members to highlight the BJP’s commitment to “national interest”. Briefing reporters after the meeting, Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and Naidu asked MPs to work on a “war-footing” to spread the Modi government’s good works and expose the “disinformation campaign” of Congress against it. “Leaders expressed satisfaction about the response to the budget and that a sense of victory among the poor, farmers and weaker sections is visible with its contents. After many years, we have a budget that is for villages… that has made efforts to take progress to the last man in queue,” he said. Naidu briefed members about the government’s legislative agenda during the session, saying some bills were passed but there was a need to work strongly for the passage of other bills. Taking a dig at Congress over the Ishrat Jahan case and its leader Ghulam Nabi Azad drawing a parallel between the Hindutva body RSS and terrorist outfit ISIS, Naqvi said the grand old party is practicing “brand new secularism”. MPs were also asked to not skip standing committee meetings and the party gave a veiled warning to the truant members, saying if they do not attend them regularly, then it will reconsider their membership to these committees when the time comes, he said. The BJP meet also criticised an amendment forced by the Congress-led opposition in the Rajya Sabha in the Motion of Thanks to the President’s Address in which concern was expressed over a law enacted in some BJP-ruled states, making minimum educational qualification necessary to fight local body elections. “The whole country wants that educated representatives come to the Lok Sabha, Rajya Sabha, assemblies and panchayats. Efforts have been made in this direction at the local level and the attempt of Congress to stop is a matter of worry. “Some members said it is a traditional approach of Congress that the country does not progress and people do not get educated. This amendment is an example,” he said. PTI