BJP parliamentary party meet: PM Narendra Modi sets tone for 2019 Lok Sabha polls, says 'will not take rest nor will let others'

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday told a BJP parliamentary party meeting that he will not take rest nor will let others.

At the same time, he also asked BJP parliamentarians to work towards turning the youth into "ambassadors" of government's people-oriented schemes and said the perception of party-led ruling coalition had changed from a "working" government to a "performing" government.

On the other hand, setting the tone for 2019 Lok Sabha polls, BJP chief Amit Shah asked leaders to prepare for the next challenge ahead.

Fresh from BJP's recent electoral triumphs, PM Modi unveiled a slew of programmes for important events ahead, including over a week-long exercise between the party's foundation day on April 6 and Bhim Rao Ambedkar's birth anniversary on April 14.

The first BJP parliamentary party meeting after the party's landslide victories in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand and heading a government in Goa and Manipur was an occasion for celebration, thanksgiving and mapping out the path ahead for the party after PM Modi entered the venue to a standing ovation.

As he asked them to take up various programmes, including spending 72 hours to reach out to people when his government completes three years on May 26, he said, "na baithunga na baithne dunga (Neither will I rest nor will let you), as per PTI.

Keeping up with its outreach to Dalits, a substantial chunk of whom is believed to have voted for the BJP in the UP polls, the party has decided to launch week-long events leading to Ambedkar's birth anniversary on April 14, Union Minister Ananth Kumar told reporters after the meeting.

The party will observe the week-long exercise in every panchayat and ward. It will also celebrate its foundation day on April 6 during which its leaders and workers will take part in 'swachh Bharat' campaign.

PM Modi asked party leaders to work during the week to give a boost to the use of BHIM app, a digital payment application, by educating the masses about it and helping them download it.

He said the app can liberate small traders from clutches of money lenders and can be a tool of social transformation. Those using it most will also be incentivised, he said.

Leaders were also asked to publicise Ambedkar's works and contributions.

Asking them to make youths "ambassadors" of the Union government's public welfare works and good governance, PM Modi said youngsters depend on mobile phones more than newspapers and TV channels to get information.

He stressed on the need to use mobiles' communication to tap them. He also asked the party leaders to contact them while they are in Class XII, Kumar said.

PM Modi asked parliamentarians to submit their suggestions ahead of his government's third anniversary on May 26. Calling polling booths power centres, he said everybody, from ministers to others, should visit them.

On his part, Shah said the party's win in the state assembly polls was an outcome of people's vote against "casteism, family rule and appeasement".

"India has suffered a lot due to these three stints. India's polity has raised itself above these all," Shah said, as per IANS.

"The development journey, which began from Gujarat, has now been accepted by the whole country," he added.

Noting that the five state elections were cited as the BJP's biggest electoral challenge following 2014 Lok Sabha polls victory, he asserted that the next parliamentary elections in 2019 is the next big challenge and asked the party leaders to make preparations for it.

"The next target is 2019," he said.

The BJP's win underlined people's support for the welfare schemes launched by the Central government and a brave decision like demonetisation, Shah claimed.

The BJP parliamentary party also passed a resolution thanking voters for their support and also party's workers for their efforts under the leadership of Modi and Shah.

It also expressed hope that the BJP governments in these states will provide good governance and run public welfare programmes.

Home Minister Rajnath Singh proposed the resolution and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley supported it, which was passed unanimously, Kumar said.

The party leaders also distributed 'prasad' of the popular Tirupati temple. 

(With Agency inputs)