No debate needed on slogan: Arun Jaitley

The nationalism issue has come to the forefront of political debate after the JNU row and the Hyderabad Univeristy scholar’s suicide, with the Opposition attacking the BJP over forcing its idea of nationalism on the nation. Parliamentary affairs minister M. Venkaiah Naidu had moved the resolution and was seconded by national general secretary Saroj Pandey.

When asked whether the row over the “Bharat mata ki jai” slogan came up for discussion, finance minister Arun Jaitley said the party believed it was an issue over which there should be no debate.

“We believe that there should be no difficulty with this slogan and we saw this in Kolkata yesterday,” Mr Jaitley said, pointing to the T20 cricket match which India won against Pakistan where spectators raised the slogan.

The party also made its intent of wooing dalits clear when it announced a programme for dalit icon B.R. Ambedkar’s birth anniversary next month. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be visiting Dr Ambedkar’s birthplace in Mau on April 14 while the party has lined up a series of events from April 14 till April 24. With the Uttar Pradesh polls due early next year, the BJP also said the party as well as the Union government was doing everything to fulfill the aspirations of a “significant section of society”. It also said it wants dalit entrepreneurs to become an institution by themselves and also a source of job creation. While giving details of programmes on Dr Ambedkar’s anniversary later, Union home minister Rajnath Singh said the BJP cadre will take Ambedkar’s message of social harmony till the panchayat level and will also inform them about his party’s thoughts on Ambedkar.

Though the conclave did not discuss state-specific issues, it did deliberated on the coming Assembly elections, Mr Jaitley said. He added that the BJP was “fully committed” to the “Agenda of the Alliance” formed between the PDP and the BJP before the late Mufti Muhammad Sayeed-led coalition government was formed in J&K. Talks between the BJP and PDP for reviving their coalition government in the state have fallen through but the saffron party has insisted its doors are not shut on its former partner but it will have to stop putting more conditions.

Attacking previous governments, Mr Jaitley said: “There was a time when the country was being governed without any sense of direction. There was uncertainty and a lack of purpose. Now we have a government with a determined leadership, nationalist policies and progressive governance.”

The political resolution also attacked the Congress for “corrupt economic policies” and trying to stall the Narendra Modi government’s development work. The resolution also dwelled on initiatives by the government for rural areas, the poor and farmers.

About the Assembly polls in four states, Mr Jaitley said the BJP will score a “decisive victory” in Assam where it has stitched up a large alliance and improve its presence in the other states. “Our strength has risen a lot in Kerala... we want to strengthen our position in other states,” he replied when asked about states like Kerala, West Bengal and Tamil Nadu.

On the Pathankot attack, the resolution praised the “quick” action to kill terrorists and contain damage.

The Naga accord and Indo-Bangladesh land transfer agreement and OROP deal for the ex-servicemen were also mentioned to highlight the government’s successes.