PM asks party MPs to give up 'red beacon' culture

Prime Minister Narendra Modi today said the BJP MPs should give up the mindset of "lal batti (red beacon) culture" and said the party lawmakers should work among the masses and carry the message of Central government's pro-poor schemes. Mr Modi made these remarks in a meeting with party MPs from Uttar Pradesh, according to a party source said here. The Modi government had barred the use of beacon lights from May 1 on all the vehicles, except emergency vehicles.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar was also present in the meeting. He said the party MPs should take the message of various welfare schemes those have helped people. Eighty per cent of sugarcane farmers in Uttar Pradesh have been paid their arrears, Modi told the MPs. The Prime Minister said that a Goods and Services Tax (GST) help desk would be set up in Parliament Library Building where MPs can get information from the officials.

Several party MPs said at the meeting that that after three years of Modi government and three months of Uttar Pradesh's Yogi Aditynath government, a new confidence could be seen in the people. The BJP MPs also expressed happiness that Mr Ram Nath Kovind has been elected President of the republic.