Cadre training 8211; the BJP style

KASAULI, Aug 28: In the cool environs of this hill station, BJP is transacting a serious business of training its cadres on behavioural a...

KASAULI, Aug 28: In the cool environs of this hill station, BJP is transacting a serious business of training its cadres on behavioural and moral pursuits. Besides an hour-long yoga and morning-drill session, 112 trainees especially enrolled for the three-day long 8220;Prashikshan Shivir8221;, are made to listen to thought-provoking lecturers of party think-tanks.

The only time when they are let free for mutual interactions and informal group deliberations is either break-fast, served exactly at 8 a m 8211; after morning showers, or lunch break. The menu for the breakfast has complete swadeshi touch. 8220;Today it was puri-bhaji and tomorrow it could be more simple and swadeshi8221; Khushi Ram Balnatah, the Shivir Pramukh camp incharge says.

Entry to the hotel 8211; owned by a local BJP worker, which is the venue for the camp is restricted. Only trainees comprising mainly the party office bearers, heads of the frontal organisationals and MLAs from two parliamentary constituencies are allowed to attend the closed-door sittings.

The trainees have been issued special passes bearing a safforn strip, the lecture hall where sitting arrangements made for the trainees, is decorated with safforn banners and photographs of Keshavrao Baliram Hedgewar, Shyama Prashad Mukerjee, Deen Dayal Uphayadya and B.R.Ambedekar displayed on the walls. When resource person takes his seat to lecture on the select topic allotted to him, the trainees are supposed to maintain a class-room type decorum with a pin-drop silence.

The training schedule starts early at 5 a m, when the Shivir Niyantara camp controller Jai Ram Thakur whistles the workers for a wake-up call, the workers assemble at the venue of the camp for morning prayers, which are followed by Yoga and drill. Ram Swaroop, a party office-bearer from Mandi conducts the Yoga and later the trainees are asked for quick showers. Breakfast in typical Indian styles follows and by 9 a.m. the workers are supposed to be in the lecture hall for first session.

After inauguration by party President Kushabhau Thakre yesterday, it was O.P.Kohli, chief of the BJP8217;s all India Training Institute, who lectured on the topic 8211; the BJP workers8217; role and functions in the first session. He was followed by former CM Shanta Kumar speaking on government-organisation-workers coordination.8221;

In the afternoon session, both leaders spoke on new topics relating to BJP8217;s ideology and policies. The evening had a brief programme 8211; devoted mainly to nationalistic themes and Sangh philosophy. Last but not the least was the dinner with swadeshi touch. At 10 PM, all trainees irrespective of their status or seniority, are supposed to be in the beds.The camp, which will end tomorrow after lectures of Sangh Priya Gautam, Narinder Modi 8211; both general secretaries and Dina Nath Mishra, BJP8217;s media cell chief, CM Prem Kumar Dhumal and state BJP chief Suresh chandel, who were at Una 8211; a parallel training camp for workers of Kangra and Hamirpur parliamentary constituencies, reaching here tomorrow for the concluding function.