LIVE: PM Narendra Modi in BJP National Council Meet at Kozhikode
Kozhikode, Kerala, Sep 23: Stay with us for live updates:
Now Narendra Modi addressing the Gathering
18:53 PM’s message to Pak, let’s fight to remove poverty, illiteracy:
In a strong attack on Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s address at the United Nations General Assembly, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in Kozhikode today that leaders of Pakistan ‘deliver speeches written by terrorists’.
‘Talking to the people of Pakistan directly,’ the PM said, “Ask you leaders why one of the two countries, which got independence together, exports software, while the other exports terrorism. Ask your leaders why they talk of Kashmir when they cant even hold the areas like PoK, Balochistan, Gilgit which are with them.”
“Leaders of neighbouring country used to say that they will fight for 1000 years, but where are they lost now. They say that well fight with India for 50 years, I accept your challenge. Lets fight. But let’s fight to remove poverty, lets fight to remove unemployment. Lets see who abolishes poverty first, let’s see who abolishes illiteracy first. Lets see who goes ahead with this fight,” the PM said in a strong message to Pakistan.
“In the last few months, our neighbour tried to destroy our country by exporting terrorists more than 17 times but our army defeated them .More than 110 terrorists killed in the past few months by Indian army as they were trying to infiltrate,” the PM said.
18:22 (IST)
Kerala will soon see change: PM Modi
“When the elected MPs of the NDA chose me as their leader and when I gave my first speech in the Central Hall of the Parliament, I had recalled the contribution of Dindayal Upadhyay for the welfare of the poor,” the Prime Minister said.
“Before I came to active politics I had worked for long as a member of the Sangh. When I had come to Kerala in those days, power was far away from them. They still don’t have power. But even in such circumstances, the karyakartas were never disheartened. The sacrifice they made in the form of life and otherwise is immense. I want to tell the members of the BJP in Kerala that the sacrifice you have given so far will never go waste. Someday in the future change will also happen in Kerala. I can already foresee that. Kerala has all the potential to become number one state in the country, To achieve that target, the BJP and the Central government will always stand by it,” the Prime Minister said.
18:12 (IST)
In 50 years, BJP has emerged as the country’s largest party: Modi
“While I came here from the helipad and right up to here what I saw was not a human chain but a human wall. Fifty years back Pandit Dindayal Upadhyay had become the head of the Bharatiya Sangh here. I don’t know if you would find any news or image about it in a 50-year-old edition of a newspaper. But in these 50 years, BJP has emerged as the greatest party of the country,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in Kozhikode.
18:07 (IST)
PM Modi praises hard work by Keralites abroad
“Not too long ago I was on a state visit to the Gulf countries. It is quite natural in such tours to have bilateral talks with the head of the government. But I wanted to meet my countrymen from Kerala who worked there. And from the heads of the states I have heard praise for my brethren from Kerala who work so sincerely and with discipline in those countries,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Kozhikode.
PM sets stage for speech in Malayalam
Prime Minister Narendra Modi begins his speech. His first words in Malayalam sets the stage for a rousing welcome. People cheer and clap to hear the PM speaking in their mother tongue.
- Amit Shah addresses BJP rally in Kozhikode: Bharatiya Janata Party president Amit Shah addresses a public meeting in Kozhikode, Kerala. Excerpts from his speech:-Kozhikode is a sacred place for the BJP as this is the city where in 1967, Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya was elected as the Jana Sangh president.-From 1967 to 2016, in these 50 years, the popularity of the BJP has immensely increased in Kerala. And we will form a government in the state after next assembly polls.-Uplifting the poor has been our mantra always.-I thank the people of Kerala for giving us 15 per cent votes in the last elections.-Since the BJP and RSS have started working in Kerala, there has been spate of attacks on our workers. Some of the attacks were state-sponsored. The Kerala government is penalising people of those areas who voted for the BJP.-The BJP workers will not be deterred by such violence, and will seek to punish — by democratic means — the forces behind these attacks.
- PM Modi is being felicitated by the local Kerala leaders
- PM Modi arrives at the venue
- PM Modi lands in Kozhikode. The PM will arrive at the venue shortly
- Union Minister Venkaiah Naidu concludes his address
Now, I&B Minister Venkaiah Naidu is addressing the meet
“Garibo ke liye roti, kapda, makaan aur naukri ka intzaam humko karna hai.BJP ke shasan me koi garib bhooka nahi rahega,” says Shivraj Singh Chouhan
“I trust that under the leadership of PM Narendra Modi we will witness development & growth,” says MP CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan
Terrorism has no religion, but some people are trying to give it a religious colour so that these crimes can be covered: Venkaiah Naidu
Under Congress rule policy was PM presides Madam decides, but now it is PM presides & team decides: Union Minister Venkaiah Naidu
For Congress politics is dynasty, but actually it is nasty: Union Minister Venkaiah Naidu
For us, nation first, party second and individual last: Union Minister Venkaiah Naidu
The ideology of communism is not acceptable to India because it is not connected to the roots of India
The lotus is going to bloom next time in Kerala. I am sure about it, says Venkaiah Naidu
The three-day National Council meet of BJP began here yesterday with general secretaries, office bearers and key state leaders holding discussions to give final shape to a comprehensive pro-poor agenda of the party and the future strategy to deal with Pakistan in the wake of Uri terror attack.
The party is expected to articulate its ‘garib kalyan’ agenda to reach out to the mariginalised like Dalits and OBCs ahead of next year’s crucial state polls, including in Uttar Pradesh.
This is Upadhyay’s birth centenary year and his 100th birth anniversary falls on September 25.
Party leaders and cadres expect him to speak on Uri attack as the saffron outfit has been under fire over repeated incidents of Pakistani terrorists targeting defence facilities, more so as Modi had often flayed the UPA government over its alleged soft attitude to Pakistan in the face of terror incidents.
The Uri attack has forced the party to recalibrate its agenda for the Council, likely to be attended by over 1,700 delegates, including all its chief ministers, all its union ministers and top brass from all states.
In its bid to woo the poor, dalits and marginalised sections in society, the BJP is of the view that effective implementation of the agenda can help it reach out to them, as it is facing flak over dalit issues from Opposition parties.
The party is likely to use the occasion to reprise the poor-centric ideology of Upadhyay, who was elected its president in 1967 at the same venue.
The party had earlier formed a committee under the leadership of Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan to prepare a ‘garib kalyan’ (welfare of poor) agenda under which its state governments will be asked to achieve certain key objectives in various welfare schemes.
Modi on September 25 will inaugurate Upadhyay’s birth centenary celebrations which will go on for over a year.
The party leadership is also expected to deliberate over assembly polls in several states scheduled for early next year, including in the crucial state of Uttar Pradesh. BJP has been out of power in Uttar Pradesh for over 14 years and Shah has claimed that it will make a come back with two-third majority by trouncing formidable regional rivals like Samajwadi Party and BSP.
The meet will also focus on increased cases of violence against BJP cadres and those of its ideological mentor RSS in Left-ruled Kerala. BJP leadership has blamed CPI(M) for these incidents.
