Modi meets Uttar Pradesh BJP parliamentarians over breakfast

INDIAN prime minister Narendra Modi on Friday (17) met several members of parliament (MPs) of his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) from the poll-bound northern state of Uttar Pradesh over breakfast.

Sources said that he discussed various “non-political” issues with the lawmakers and advised them to engage more with party workers and people beyond politics, Press Trust of India reported.

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Besides 36 MPs, the meeting was also attended by BJP’s national president JP Nadda and Indian parliamentary affairs minister Pralhad Joshi, PTI added.

Talking about Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav -- a 75-week grand celebration launched by Modi to mark 75 years of India’s independence in 2022 – Modi asked the saffron parliamentarians to hold sports competitions regularly to encourage a culture of fitness among the common people, the sources added.

He asked the party leaders to be in regular connection with senior people in their respective constituencies as well.

The parliamentarians lauded Modi for the Kashi Vishwanath corridor which he inaugurated (first phase) this week and specifically mentioned that the prime minister’s having lunch with the corridor’s construction workers has gone well with the masses, particularly in Uttar Pradesh, it was said.

This is the fourth meeting between the prime minister and BJP MPs during the ongoing winter session of the Indian parliament.

He has met MPs from northeast India, southern India and the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh earlier.

The BJP-led alliance including parties like Nishad Party and Apna Dal (S) will be seeking a second mandate in the assembly elections of Uttar Pradesh early next year. The saffron party swept the state in the 2017 elections by winning 312 seats in the 403-seat assembly in what is described as India’s most important state politically.

In the 2019 general elections, the BJP won 62 out of 80 parliamentary seats in Uttar Pradesh.