BJP to publicise FM’s pro-farmer Budget

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 work 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 was practising “brand new secularism”. MPs were also asked to not skip standing committee meetings and the party gave a veiled warning to the truant members.