BJP ministers to visit party headquarters once every month

Pushing for better government-party coordination, the Bharatiya Janata Party has decided that its ministers will visit party offices once a month to meet party workers and hear their grievances.

This was decided at a meeting attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the BJP headquarters in New Delhi on Wednesday. A number of Union ministers and top BJP leaders, including party president and Home Minister Rajnath Singh, attended the meeting.

"BJP has decided that each minister will come to the party office once every month and listen to the party workers," Information and Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javadekar told reporters after the meeting adding "there will be a minister at the party office everyday to take suggestions from the public for the government".

He said it is a healthy tradition in a democracy where the voice of partymen will be heard and suggestions sought for the government.

Javadekar said all ministers have also been asked to visit the party offices in their respective states during their visits out of Delhi and touch base with party workers.

He said this is a system that had evolved under the previous NDA government led by Atal Bihari Vajpayee where ministers met party workers under the "sahyog" programme.

"We have revived it," he added.

During the meeting, Modi and Rajnath Singh discussed the party's plans and preparedness for coming assembly elections in some states and asked all the ministers to visit the concerned states more frequently.

The meeting today came ahead of proposed changes in the party after government-formation as most party leaders are part of the government. The party is set to see a new President in place of Rajnath Singh who is expected to relinquish charge soon.

The two-hour meeting began with party president Rajnath Singh's remarks and was followed by the Prime Minister's speech, who stressed on better coordination between the party and the government to ensure effective administration.

Sources said that the Prime Minister also encouraged BJP members to emerge victorious in all the states where elections will be held later this year and early next year.

Modi asked the Ministers and party leaders to take decisions of the government aggressively and effectively with proper logic and reach out to the public.

He also stressed on more coordination between party and organisation and asked his Cabinet colleagues to take the message of good governance and policy initiatives of the government to the people.

BJP General Secretary (Organisation) Ram Lal also addressed the meeting. A number of senior Ministers of the party were present at the meet at the party office which was followed by dinner. Among other prominent party leaders present during the meeting were Amit Shah, J P Nadda and Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi.

Party patriarch L K Advani and senior party leader Murli Manohar Joshi were absent from the crucial meeting. Javadekar refused to answer a query about the reason for their absence.

The crucial meet comes ahead of BJP's proposed organisational changes after government formation.

The party's strategy for states like Maharashtra and Haryana, where assembly elections are due later this year, was also discussed during the meeting. Party presidents of both the states were also present, besides also of Jharkhand and Jammu and Kashmir which will go to polls early next year.

The party also discussed its strategy for Delhi, where BJP narrowly missed out on forming a government in assembly elections last year, as the party is not keen on forming a government by horse-trading, sources said.

The meeting, which was to be earlier held on June 25 and Rajnath Singh was to chair it but was postponed in view of the Bihar train tragedy.