Avoid speaking out of turn, PM warns netas at NDA meet

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said caste enumeration was a step towards bringing those left behind into the mainstream of development as he emphasised that his govt did not believe in caste politics but in the empowerment of the marginalised.

Addressing a conclave of NDA chief ministers and deputy CMs, Modi said the success of Operation Sindoor was an endorsement of the country's push towards self-reliance in the defence sector, a reference to the important role played by indigenous defence technology in the recent India-Pakistan conflict, sources said. After the meeting, BJP president J P Nadda said that caste census was always part of the NDA's imagination, noting that the Bihar govt headed by chief minister Nitish Kumar was the first to do it.

A resolution was passed praising the decision to enumerate castes in the next census. Nadda said the resolution made it clear that NDA did not believe in caste politics but acknowledged the need for a caste census to bring the deprived, exploited, Dalits and others left behind into the mainstream of development. "It is the need of society," he added.

As presentations on seven best governance practices were made by CMs and deputy CMs, Modi suggested that a panel be set up to study them and how they could be integrated elsewhere.

Sources said the PM asked leaders to avoid speaking out of turn, seen as an expression of disapproval in the backdrop of rows triggered by insensitive and contentious remarks made by members of the alliance following Operation Sindoor. Union ministers Amit Shah and Rajnath Singh attended the day-long conclave too.