 "J P Nadda, Jagat Prakash Nadda")
The BJP on Wednesday claimed that farmers have given their "mandate" for the agri reforms enacted by the Modi government as it cited its win in the Rajasthan local body polls besides in elections in a number of states after the three farm sector laws were passed to assert people's support for the party across the country.
BJP president J P Nadda said the saffron party's win in Rajasthan symbolises the trust the poor, farmers and labourers have in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership, while senior party leader and Union minister Prakash Javadekar stressed that people, especially farmers, have given it a "decisive" victory.
In a tweet, Nadda expressed his thanks to women, farmers and other rural voters in the Congress-ruled state for putting "faith" in the BJP.
Noting that the polls were held primarily in rural Rajasthan which has a high concentration of farmers, Javadekar told a press conference that the BJP had won 353 of 636 zila parishads and 1990 of 4371 panchayat samitis, leaving the Congress behind and described the party's performance as phenomenal.
By opting for the BJP, voters reversed the trend of the state's ruling party winning most seats in the local polls in Rajasthan, he said. The Congress is in power in the state.
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"This is a huge victory... This is farmers' mandate for farm reforms," Javadekar said.
To a question about Rahul Gandhi's dig at the Union government alleging that "reform equals theft" for it, Javadekar mocked him, saying he does not want to respond to a "non-performing politician".
The BJP leader said the government has engaged in talks with the protesting farmer union leaders with an open mind and expressed confidence that a resolution will be reached.
Noting that the BJP has recently put up impressive shows in a spate of elections; from the Bihar assembly polls to bypolls in a number of state besides local elections in Hyderabad and Arunachal Pradesh, the Union minister said, "Be it northeast, east, south; whatever direction you go it is the BJP everywhere".
All these polls were held after Parliament enacted three farm sector reform laws, which have drawn protest from a section of farmers, especially from Punjab.
Javadekar pointed out that these wins have come for the BJP amid the coronavirus pandemic, economic troubles caused by it and "misinformation" campaign by the opposition against the saffron party over the farm reforms.
"Voters like the BJP because they don't like the opposition's negative police. They want country's development and have faith in Modi's leadership," he said.
In Rajasthan, the BJP won in the home towns of a number of state government ministers, state Congress chief Govind Singh Dotasra and also former deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot, he said.
Javadekar was joined by BJP general secretary Bhupender Yadav at the press conference.
The poll outcome has come as a shot in the arm for the BJP at a time when its government at the Centre is facing farmers' protest against the recent agri reforms enacted by it.
(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
