Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday addressed his BJP party workers on the occasion of 42nd foundation day. Addressing the party workers, PM Modi said, “While several political parties resorted to vote bank politics for decades, the BJP has been successful in countering these unfair practices.”

“Make promises to only a few people, keep most of the people wanting more, discrimination-corruption all this was a side effect of vote bank politics,” he explained.

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“But BJP has not only countered this vote bank politics, but has also been successful in explaining its disadvantages,” he added.

“Today the whole world is seeing that in such difficult times, India is giving free ration to 80 crore poor and underprivileged,” PM Modi highlighted Centre’s efforts to support poor. 

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“During the biggest crisis of 100 years, the central government is spending about Rs 3.5 lakh crore for the poor not to sleep hungry,” PM Modi added.

The party has several events planned through the week, concluding with the commemoration of Ambedkar Jayanti on April 14. Currently, the BJP has come a long way since its origins in the early 1980s.

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Formed on April 6, 1942 from the erstwhile Jana Sangh, the BJP is one of the only two pan-India political parties in the country, which came into existence on December 28, 1885.

The BJP has served five terms at the Centre, where it is currently in power; in 2014, it returned to power after 10 years in opposition and was re-elected in 2019. Party co-founder and stalwart Atal Bihari Vajapyee was the first Prime Minister from the BJP, while Narendra Modi has been in the post since 2014.