A series of events, including a rally in Shimla to mark eight years of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government on May 31, have been planned in poll-bound Himachal Pradesh, where the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) hopes to return to power.
No party has won a second consecutive term in the state, where elections are due later this year, since 1993. The BJP hopes to replicate its success in Uttarakhand, where it became the first party to retain power this year.
Himachal Pradesh chief minister Jai Ram Thakur said Modi will also interact with at least 10 beneficiaries of the Centre’s welfare schemes at the rally. State BJP general secretary Rakesh Jamwal said Modi will also virtually interact with beneficiaries from other states, where similar events will be organised.
The BJP has planned programmes across the country between May 30 and June 15 to mark the Modi government’s eight years. It has scheduled special events to reach out to the minorities, the poor, marginalised communities, youth and women. Ten days have been set aside for interactions with farmers, Other Backward Classes, Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, and beneficiaries of government schemes, etc, said BJP leaders.
BJP chief JP Nadda has instructed party leaders to plan 75 hours of public interactions and hold meetings with beneficiaries of government schemes. He plans to release a report listing the pro-people schemes and policies implemented over the last eight years.
Modi will also attend a two-day conclave of chief secretaries of states and Union territories expected to be held in Dharamshala in the third week of June. “His [Modi]’s presence at the chief secretaries’ conference on June 16-17 is significant. He will also be visiting an aspirational district in Chamba next month,” said Thakur.
The conclave will set the agenda for the meeting of government think tank NITI Aayog’s governing council, which includes the Prime Minister and chief ministers, likely to be held before Parliament’s Monsoon Session, said officials aware of the matter.
A meeting of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad, the student’s wing of BJP’s ideological fountainhead Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, is also being organised after four decades in Shimla.