NDA committed to furthering national progress, empowering poor: PM Modi

Chandigarh: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) is committed to furthering national progress and empowering the poor and downtrodden.

The prime minister made the remarks as he chaired a meeting of NDA chief ministers and deputy CMs here, following the swearing-in ceremony of Haryana CM Nayab Singh Saini and his ministerial colleagues in Panchkula.

"We had extensive discussions on aspects of good governance and ways to improve people's lives. Our alliance is committed to furthering national progress and empowering the poor and downtrodden," Modi posted on X.

The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) Chief Ministers' Council Meeting -- attended by 17 CMs and 18 Deputy CMs -- was held at a five-star hotel in Chandigarh.

Union ministers Rajnath Singh, Amit Shah and J P Nadda, who is also the BJP president, were part of the deliberations as the NDA looks to build on its win in the Haryana assembly polls as it goes to the assembly polls in Maharashtra and Jharkhand.

Briefing reporters here about the meeting, Nadda said the prime minister stressed on good governance.

"Endeavour should be made to pay attention to pro-people, proactive good governance (P2 G2)," the PM said, according to Nadda.

He said the meeting discussed six resolutions and passed them unanimously.

Nadda, who is also the Union health minister, said a proposal was put forth by Home Minister Amit Shah on the 50 years of the imposition of the Emergency.

"Democracy was murdered in 1975 with the Emergency. In 2025, we will discuss the murder of democracy. We will also expose those who murdered the Constitution and we will tell people how they tried to crush the Constitution and strangulate its mool dharna (basic spirit)," he said.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh proposed a resolution to celebrate 'Amrit Mahotsav' of the Constitution in 2025.

According to Nadda, the PM also said that it was a matter of happiness for all that the oath-taking ceremony in Jammu and Kashmir happened under the Constitution of India for the first time when the new government took charge on Wednesday.

Earlier, oath was administered to J&K CM under the state constitution.

For the first time in Independent India, oath-taking programme was held under India's constitution in J&K too under Modi's leadership, said Nadda.

This tells the power of Constitution and meaning of abrogation of Article 370, the PM said, when the resolution on the 'Amrit Mahotsav' of the Constitution came up for discussion.

National Conference leader Omar Abdullah was sworn in as the chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir on Wednesday, the first elected government in the union territory since 2019 when Article 370 was abrogated.

Nadda said Maharashtra chief minister Eknath Shinde presented the first resolution at the meet.

"The way INDI Alliance tried to spread lies during Haryana polls that has been given a befitting reply. The BJP got support and blessings from farmers, youth, sportspersons and common people. PM Modi was congratulated for this and the people of Haryana were thanked for giving blessings," said Nadda.

He further said the 100th birth anniversary of former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee will be celebrated next year, as well as the 150th birth anniversaries of triban icon Birsa Munda and Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel.

Nadda said that Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu talked about 'Atam Nirbhar Bharat', Digital India and USD 5-trillion economy.

Uttarakhand CM Pushkar Singh Dhami talked about Digital India, and Maharashtra deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis about contributing to making India a USD 5-trillion economy.

"In this five-hour long meeting, all the CMs held threadbare discussion on every issues. We took up social and health issues," Nadda said.

The PM stressed on making India 'TB Mukt' with a 'jan andolan', he said. "We stressed that 'ek ped, maa ke naam' campaign should be promoted as 'jan andolan'," he said.

All the CMs and deputy CMs described this meeting as fruitful and resolved to "achieve these targets with new zeal and enthusiasm", Nadda said.

Gujarat CM Bhupendra Patel, Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath, Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde, Goa CM Pramod Sawant also attended the meeting.

Madhya Pradesh CM Mohan Yadav, Assam's Himanta Biswa Sarma, Nagaland's Neiphiu Rio, Arunachal Pradesh's Pema Khandu, Chhattisgarh's Vishnu Deo Sai were also among the attendees.

Others who attended the meeting include Meghalaya CM Conrad Sangma, Manipur CM N Biren Singh, Odisha CM Mohan Charan Majhi, Sikkim CM Prem Singh Tamang and Tripura CM Manik Saha.

Bihar Deputy CMs Samrat Choudhary and Vijay Kumar Sinha, Andhra Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan, Maharashtra Deputy CM Ajit Pawar were also present.

This was the first conclave of NDA CMs of this kind in the last many years.

With the BJP and its allies set to take on opposition alliance in next month's Maharashtra and Jharkhand polls, the ruling bloc is looking to draw momentum from its Haryana win to charge at its rivals.