PM Narendra Modi's Strong Message To BJP Leaders: 'Practice The Art Of Silence'

Bhubaneswar: Prime Minister Narendra Modi today said while BJP leaders are good at talking, "when in power, they should practice the art of silence". Taking a dig at the controversial statements by his partymen, he said, "The microphone is not a machine that forces people to speak".  

The two-day party conclave - which had started with Prime Minister's high-optics roadshow -- ended with a strong message from him: "There is no room for complacency after victory. From the soil of Odisha, the party should pledge to build a New India, where good governance and power to the poor should be the mantra".  

The party-men should repay the voters' trust with hard work, the Prime Minister was quoted as saying by senior party leader Nitin Gadkari after the concluding session of the National Executive today.

The meet was attended by top central ministers and 13 BJP Chief Ministers, including Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, whose picture was put up near the stage with that of the PM and party chief Amit Shah.

Strong criticism was also directed at the opposition, which has questioned the security features of Electronic Voting Machines following the BJP's sweeping victory in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand in the recent round of assembly elections.

The opposition, the Prime Minister said, has become a "factory for manufacturing issues".  "Before every election, there a new one: Before Delhi polls, it was attack on churches; award wapasi came up before Bihar polls; now it is EVMs," he was quoted as saying.  The opposition, he said, "should not find fault with EVMs and use it as an excuse for the losses they have suffered".

In a move which may raise eyebrows, PM Modi also asked women from the BJP's women's wing to visit each district in the country and meet victims of triple talaq. "There is a need to meet these women, but do not provoke them or go against their religion," he said.'

Earlier, during a discussion on issues of social justice and the new backward commission, the Prime Minister had intervened, speaking on behalf of minorities. "In many regions, there are Muslims who are backwards. The party and governments should ensure that they benefit from the new look backward commission which has been given a constitutional status," he said.