PM Modi to meet CMs of 13-BJP ruled states

New Delhi, Apr 21: A high-level meeting of all BJP Chief Ministers have been convened here on April 23, Sunday, senior party leader Bhupendra Yadav said here. The meeting with be addressed among others by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah. The conclave will try to focus on party’s election strategies in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh — the two states where elections are due later this year. The meeting would be also attended by Union Ministers including Rajnath Singh, M Venkaiah Naidu, Sushma Swaraj, Nitin Gadkari besides BJP’s general secretary organisation Ram Lal. Another such meeting of the BJP Chief Ministers was convened on August 27. Besides Chief Ministers, Deputy Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir Nirmal Kumar Singh is also expected to attend the meeting. According to party sources, the Prime Minister and Mr Shah would discuss with the Chief Ministers on various facets of “good governance” and implementation of the Centre’s pro-poor schemes as well. The BJP-led NDA coalition will complete three years in office on May 26, 2016. Notably, the meeting will see the leaders have detailed deliberations on how to carry forward the momentum post the Uttar Pradesh assembly polls victory. The BJP has already made its intent that it wants to expand party bases in states — where it faced strong regional forces like Trinamool Congress in West Bengal and Naveen Patnaik-led BJD in Odisha. The meeting of the Chief Ministers with Prime Minister will be first after party’s recently held two-day national executive meet at Bhubaneswar — where Mr Modi gave a broad guideline to the party leaders to work under guiding theme of ‘Jan Dhan’ (empowerment of poor), ‘Van Dhan’ (Empowerment of tribal and environment protection) and ‘Jal Dhan’ (underline the importance of effective use of water).