The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Thursday dismissed claims by the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh have "officially entered" the party's ?Margdarshak Mandal?.
In a post on X (formerly Twitter), BJP national spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla clarified that Modi and Singh have been part of the Margdarshak Mandal since its inception in August 2014. He explained that the committee originally included five leaders: Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Lal Krishna Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi, Rajnath Singh, and Narendra Modi. The late Atal Bihari Vajpayee passed away in August 2018.
Poonawalla stated, ?Fact: On 26.8.2014 - 5 leaders were included in Margdarshak Mandal: Shri Vajpayee, Shri Modi, Shri Advani, Shri Joshi, Shri Rajnath Singh. Press note of BJP is on the same website but under GAALIBAAZ- Congress has become a factory of fake news.?
He further criticized the Kerala Congress, alleging that it spreads misinformation: ?From fake videos to outright lies! But don?t expect LKFC to ?fact check? this,? he wrote, targeting the Kerala Congress.
Earlier, the Kerala unit of Congress had claimed that Modi and Rajnath Singh's inclusion in the Margdarshak Mandal was a recent development, suggesting a link to the Lok Sabha election results. The Kerala Congress's post on X read, ?Modi and Rajnath Singh officially entered Margdarshak Mandal according to the BJP's website. Is this indication that the floor test is going to fail and is this a dry run of the page post the disaster??
In the recent Lok Sabha elections, the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) secured 293 seats, while the INDIA bloc garnered 234 seats, and Congress won 99 seats. Opposition leaders have speculated that the BJP-led NDA's third term may be unstable due to its reliance on allies, as the party holds 240 seats independently.
The BJP?s clarification aims to dispel any misunderstandings about the roles of Modi and Singh in the Margdarshak Mandal and to counter the opposition's narrative regarding the party's stability and future actions.
