Headlines
BJP marks 35th foundation day, no official invite for Advani
New Delhi, April 6
The BJP held its 35th
foundation day function at the party office here but party patriarch L.
K. Advani was not "officially" invited for the event, sources said.
They said that Advani's office got to know about the function through an sms that was also sent to the media.
The
foundation day function had special significance this year for BJP,
which came to power with an absolute majority for the first time in last
year's general elections, as it has also become the largest political
party in the world with about 9.5 crore members.
A Bharatiya
Janata Party functionary, who did not want to be named, told IANS that
there "had been a lapse" in the way the invitation for the function was
sent to Advani.
Party sources said that normally a letter or a circular is sent about a function held in the party office.
They
said since many party officials returned from Bengaluru on Sunday and
there was not much time to prepare for the function, a sms was sent
communicating the time for the function.
Another functionary,
however, said that no circular or invite was sent for the function as it
is an event held every year in the party office.
Among the
party's founding members and its three-time president, Advani did not
make a speech at the party's national executive that ended in Bengaluru
on Saturday - the first time in all such meetings which he has attended.
Apart
from party president Amit Shah, the foundation day function was
attended by union ministers M. Venkaiah Naidu and Thawar Chand Gehlot
andgeneral secretary Ram Lal.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who
led the BJP to a sweeping victory in the Lok Sabha elections 10 months
back, tweeted to greet BJP activists on the birth anniversary. "On the
BJP's 'Sthapana Diwas', my greetings to all the BJP 'karyakartas' and
well-wishers," he said.
"BJP's phenomenal growth is due to the
efforts and hard work of generations of selfless 'karyakartas' who
devoted their lives to our nation," he said.
The BJP would "leave
no stone unturned to fulfil people's aspirations and create an India
that is strong, developed and inclusive", Modi added.
The BJP was
founded on April 6, 1980, after its earlier incarnation, Bharatiya Jana
Sangh, merged into the Janata Party along with other parties in 1977.
Shah, in his address, asked party workers not to work with posts in mind.
Noting
Syama Prasad Mookerjee had laid foundation of Jana Sangh with 10-12
youth, he said the party in its reincarnation as BJP was the "largest
political party in the world" with about 9.5 crore members.
"Our journey is the most interesting of all political parties in the world," he said.
Shah
said the BJP was in power at the centre and in 12 states and BJP
workers had "greater responsibility" and had to work for the poor,
farmers and the disadvantaged sections.
"The party was formed to
make India Jagat (world) guru," he said and added that the Modi
government was working to make India a front-ranking nation in terms of
development.