PM Modi: ‘Nitin Nabin is my boss in BJP … those who save themselves from ills of Cong will progress’

“People must be thinking that Modi is the Prime Minister, has become PM for the third time, and has been in power for 25 years. But a greater matter of pride for me is that I am a worker of the BJP. I am a karyakarta, Nitin Nabin is my boss,” Modi said at an event at the BJP headquarters here.

Describing Nabin as a millennial whose youthful energy and organisational experience would be an asset, the PM said, “You are the president of all of us. His responsibility is not just to serve the BJP but also coordinate with the NDA allies. Whoever has come in contact with Nitin Nabin ji discusses his simplicity. Be it his responsibility as a prabhari or his experience of working with the Bihar government, Nitin Nabin has proved himself in whatever responsibility he was given.”

Senior leaders said the PM’s words were meant to establish Nabin’s authority and prevent any challenge from within the party or its allies. “Nabin is new to national politics. There could be questions about his age and experience. But when the PM says he is reporting to him, it is a message that he is everyone’s boss.”

Targeting the Congress, Modi said there was a need to reflect upon what destroyed the party and learn the lessons to protect the BJP from “such ills”.

“In 1984, the Congress had more than 400 seats, even more than in Nehru’s time, and almost 50% vote. But today the Congress is longing for 100 seats. It never analyses its decline, because if they do so, they will have to question the same family that has captured the Congress. So, they keep looking for excuses. They have lost the courage to analyse their decline. The BJP, on the contrary, analyses its defeats and victories. We did not celebrate the victory in Maharashtra. Rather, we began to prepare for the coming panchayat elections.”

“Jo Congress ki burayiyon se bachega wahi desh mein aage badhega (Only those who save themselves from the ills of the Congress will progress),” Modi said.

A BJP leader from a northern state said it was clear that the PM was “concerned about rumblings in some state units”. “There have been talks of corruption in some party bastions. Modi ji has made it clear that corruption has no place in the BJP. He specifically said the party has to ensure that the BJP leaders are not embracing the ills of the Congress and keeping away from power and positions being corrupted will only keep the BJP as a favourite of people,” said the leader.

With alleged illegal immigration and demographic changes set to become big electoral issues in West Bengal and Assam, which go to the polls in a few months, the PM said other countries are never questioned when they remove “infiltrators”. “India can also never allow infiltrators to rob the rights of its youth. It is important to identify them and send them back to their country. Those political parties that are defending infiltrators for their vote must be exposed,” Modi said.

The BJP had come to power in states such as Haryana, Assam, and Odisha on its own, Modi said, also highlighting the party’s growth in Bengal. Mentioning the BJP’s success in the Thiruvanthapuram civic polls, he said, “I have faith that the people of Kerala will give a chance to the BJP in the next Assembly elections.”

The PM alleged that while the Congress ignored the Northeast as it does not have many seats, the BJP connected the region with both “dil (heart) and Dilli (Delhi)”.

Modi said urban Naxals continue to “conspire”. “We have to defeat them through the strength of our organisation and ideology,” he said. While the BJP was not against anyone’s son or daughter, it was “critical of those who promote dynastic politics more than ideology and keep their parties in the control of families”, he said.

Modi also recalled the contributions of the BJP’s past presidents. “We have seen the journey from zero to the peak. The BJP won a majority on its own under the leadership of Rajnath Singh. It spread in many states under Amit Shah and came to power for the third time under J P Nadda,” he said.

Nabin’s message

In his speech, Nabin thanked the leadership for appointing an ordinary worker as the party president and thanked his predecessor Nadda and previous party presidents Shah and Gadkari. He said he had once attended a programme in Anand in Gujarat and was impressed with the way the PM listened to everyone. It taught him that those who took everyone along were the ones who made it big, Nabin said.

Referring to PM’s statement that 1 lakh first-timers with no political background should join politics, the BJP president said the youth should heed the call. He called on BJP workers to work tirelessly to achieve the dream of Viksit Bharat in 2047 and said the immediate goal was to perform well in the coming Assembly elections.

Nadda thanked party leaders and workers for their support during his tenure and expressed gratitude towards Modi for his guidance.”Today is a very historic occasion, when our young, energetic and talented Nitin Nabin is taking charge as the national president of the world’s largest political party, the BJP. I extend my heartfelt congratulations to him on my behalf and on behalf of crores of workers,” he said.