BJP begins image makeover

The Bharatiya Janata Party showered lavish praise on itself on Friday, the opening day of its national executive meeting, setting the tone for a three-month image-building exercise that will make the claim that the Narendra Modi government is pro-poor, pro-farmer and has ushered in the good times that it had promised in its election campaign a year ago.

The party felicitated president Amit Shah and Modi for the membership drive that has seen the BJP enrol nearly 10 crore members. "Many people who did not vote for the BJP in the last election have enrolled as members," Union Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar said.

Shah lauded the Modi government for its 10 months in power. "The party president said while the Congress-led regime at the Centre was known for scams, this government has ushered in an era of transparency and good governance," Javadekar said.

With the party facing political isolation in the first leg of the Budget Session of Parliament over the Land Acquisition Bill, Shah sought to position the BJP as pro-poor. He praised the Modi government for launching the Jan Dhan Yojana and opening bank accounts for the poor, launching insurance schemes and soil testing programmes for farmers.