Politics meaningless without religion, says J P Nadda

Vadodara, Jan 03: Terming religion as a "code of conduct" which guides people, BJP working president J P Nadda on Friday said politics was meaningless without religion.

Addressing devotees of Swaminarayan sect at a function, Nadda also said politics needs religion the most. "Samaaj mein ye prashna baar baar khada hota hai ki rajniti ka dharma se sambandh kya hai. Mera ye manana hai ki rajniti dharma ke bagair vivek-heen hai, uska koi arth nahi hai.

Rajniti hamesha dharma ke sath chalti hai. (One question is frequently asked in the society: what is the relation between religion and politics? I firmly believe that politics would become wisdom-less without the presence of religion. There is no meaning of politics without religion. They both go together)," Nadda said.

"Aur dharma ka matlab hai code of conduct. Dharma ka matlab hai kya karna aur kya nahi karna. Dharma ka matlab hai kya uchit aur kya anuchit. Aur iss liye dharma ki sabse badi avashyakta hai toh woh rajniti mein hai. (Religion means code of conduct. It tells us what to do and what not to. Religion stands for wisdom to differentiate between what is good and what is not. It is the politics which needs religion the most)," Nadda said. "And BJP always works with such positivity and do things which are good for the country and society," he added.

Whenever opponents tried to stop Prime Minister Narendra Modi by spreading negativity, the PM surged ahead with more energy and took everyone along for development, Nadda said.

The BJP leader listed several key achievements of the Modi government, such as Ayushman Bharat Yojana to provide free medical treatment up to Rs 5 lakh and Ujjwala Yojana of distributing LPG connections to poor families. Citing a recent report which claimed India's forest cover has increased, Nadda said that Ujjwala scheme has also contributed to it.

"The Ujjawala Yojana has contributed a lot in increasing our forest cover. Under the scheme, as many as 8 crore gas connections and stoves were already distributed to women. It also improved their health, as they are now spared from inhaling smoke," he added.