RSS icon Deendayal Upadhyay’s proposed concept of Antyodaya seemed to be the theme at the meeting of Chief Ministers and Deputy Chief Ministers of BJP-ruled states with central leaders in New Delhi. Chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the meeting was attended by BJP chief Amit Shah, Union Ministers Rajnath Singh, Sushma Swaraj, Venkaiah Naidu, Nitin Gadkari and party general secretary (organisation) Ramlal. The meeting began around 6.30 pm at the Ashoka Road BJP headquarters and continued for several hours until late night. The Chief Ministers made a presentation of the best schemes in their states, sources said, and their replication in other parts of the country was discussed. The last such meeting was held in August 2016. Antyodaya means the “rise of the last person”. It’s not a coincidence that the CM’s meet came at a time when the RSS is holding a four-day seminar on Upadhyay’s other concept, Integral Humanism, at India International Centre in Delhi. Confirming the significance of Antyodaya, at least two chief ministers, Rajasthan’s Vasundhara Raje Scindia and UP’s Yogi Adityanath, posted identical tweets when the meeting was on. “Bharatiya Janata Party ke mukhyamantri parishad ki baithak mein bhag liya. Lakshya Antyodaya, Pran Antyodaya, Path Antyodaya (Participated in BJP’s CM council. Aim Antyodaya. Resolve Antyodaya. Path Antyodaya),” read their tweets, posted one after the other. Jharkhand CM Raghubar Das tweeted the meeting “discussed the aim, resolve and path of Antyodaya”. Madhya Pradesh CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan also tweeted that “in the meeting”, he “informed about the schemes and efforts made for Antyodaya in the state”. Upadhyay has become the most promoted Sangh icon during the three-year tenure of the Modi government so far. Last year, Modi released a 15-volume compilation of his works; several government schemes, even railway stations, airports and places are being named after him. At Sunday’s meeting, there was also a focus on effectively using social media to spread the word on government schemes. Chhattisgarh CM Raman Singh gave a presentation on three programmes — Hamar Chhattisgarh, Lok Suraj Abhiyaan and District Mineral Trust (DMT) Scheme. The DMT scheme has transformed districts that were rich in minerals but could not garner enough revenue for focussed growth, he said. Haryana CM Manohar Lal Khattar spoke about efforts made to increase milk production and noted that 50 per cent subsidy was being given to set up dairies of “desi cows”. Also present were Assam CM Sarbananda Sonowal, Goa’s Manohar Parrikar and Maharashtra’s Devendra Fadnavis.
