New Delhi: The conclave Sunday of chief ministers and deputy chief ministers of the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) witnessed the passage of two resolutions: the first praising the valour of the Indian armed forces and the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi during Operation Sindoor, and the second praising the central government’s decision to conduct a nationwide caste census.
Chaired by Modi, the conclave was held less than 24 hours after the chief ministers of all states gathered in the national capital for the tenth governance council meeting of the NITI Aayog—also chaired by Modi. Modi, it is learnt, told NDA CMs and deputy CMs Sunday that the understanding with Pakistan was bilateral and Islamabad reached out to New Delhi directly seeking cessation of hostilities—no third party was involved.
During the conclave held Sunday, a decision was taken to launch four mass outreach programmes on the completion of the first year of Modi’s third consecutive term in office as Prime Minister, ThePrint has learnt. One of the programmes will focus on reaching all sections of society to amplify the importance of a caste census, while another will focus on cornering the Congress to mark 50 years since the imposition of the Emergency.
The conclave was attended by Modi, and Union ministers Amit Shah and Rajnath Singh, among others. Speaking to the media after the conclave, Union minister and BJP president J.P. Nadda said a select group of NDA constituents will decide the contours of the four campaigns to be launched in the coming days. “Today, our National Democratic Alliance’s CM conclave was held under the leadership of Prime Minister Modi. Our 20 CMs and 18 deputy CMs were present in this meeting. Two resolutions were passed,” he said.
Nadda added that the resolution praising the armed forces for Operation Sindoor was moved by Rajasthan CM Bhajan Lal Sharma, seconded by Maharashtra Deputy CM Eknath Shinde and passed unanimously.
Shinde, whose party the Shiv Sena is part of the NDA, said it is the “good fortune of every citizen that we have a courageous, valiant, and selfless patriot like Modi as our PM”. He added that Operation Sindoor “will go down in history as a strong response to those who attempted to derail India’s peaceful development journey”.
On the second resolution praising the Centre’s decision to conduct a caste census, Nadda said it underlined the government’s efforts to bring those still lacking behind in terms of socio-economic status to the mainstream. In this context, he also mentioned that Bihar, now an NDA-ruled state, has conducted a state-specific caste survey under Nitish Kumar.
“All leaders hailed the decision of the Union Cabinet to include caste in the census,” Nadda said.
This resolution was moved by Haryana CM Nayab Singh Saini, who comes from the OBC community, and seconded by Andhra Pradesh Deputy CM Pawan Kalyan whose Janasena Party is an NDA constituent.
The third campaign will focus on 50 years since the imposition of the Emergency. “NDA will expose how Emergency was imposed 50 years ago and how democracy was throttled during the Indira Gandhi regime. We will make people aware of how democracy was endangered,” Nadda said.
A leader serving as deputy chief minister of an NDA-ruled state told ThePrint on condition of anonymity that the bottom line of the conclave held Sunday was to outline a strategy for NDA partners to consolidate their core constituents under the banner of either Operation Sindoor or the caste census. “Since Bihar elections are around the corner, the caste survey conducted in Bihar was mentioned (in the resolution) to boost NDA’s graph in the state in totality, but right now nationalism is the dominant sentiment and as a political party our role is to capitalise on that sentiment and corner the Opposition,” the leader said.
Also Read: NDA faces Pahalgam heat from within: JDU MP slams ‘intelligence failure’, BJP leader points to ‘lapses’
Best practices of NDA-ruled states
Best governance practices by NDA-ruled states made up a large part of the deliberations.
Talking about the seven best practices identified during the conclave, Nadda said Chhattisgarh CM Vishnu Deo Sai’s preparations to hold Bastar Olympics in 2026 were appreciated by all NDA constituents. Sai, it is learnt, also made a presentation.
Other initiatives that were praised at the conclave included Bihar government’s Jal Jeevan Hariyali scheme. Bihar Deputy CM Samrat Choudhary made a presentation on the scheme, launched in 2019 to promote water conservation and tree plantation.
Assam government’s drive against child marriage was also praised. Nadda said the “good outcomes” that came of it will be studied by policymakers and MLAs during study tours.
Gujarat government’s efforts to implement the PM Surya Ghar scheme too earned praise during the conclave; so did ‘CM-Connect’ which was launched by the Conrad Sangma-led NDA government in Meghalaya in February last year to offer citizens a platform to raise grievances, ask questions, and provide suggestions directly to the government.
“Sangma ji has run a very good programme which is all about accountable government. This also shows how the administration can become more responsible and accountable. After his presentation it was suggested that other CMs introduce similar schemes,” Nadda said.
During the conclave, Uttarakhand CM Pushkar Singh Dhami too gave a presentation on implementation of Uniform Civil Code (UCC), while Uttar Pradesh government’s Project Alankar to modernise secondary schools in the state was also recognised as a best practice.
(Edited by Amrtansh Arora)
Also Read: After Ladli Behna & Ladki Bahin pass the poll test, BJP’s Ladli Laxmi scheme is on the way to Bihar
