CJP's Saurav Das claims MP anganwadi workers 'ordered' to celebrate PM Modi's birthday: 'Manufacturing gratitude'

Cockroach Janta Party co-convenor Saurav Das said he received an email from the daughter of an Anganwadi worker in Madhya Pradesh, claiming that Anganwadi workers there have been “ordered” to gather and praise Prime Minister Narendra Modi by lighting diyas and taking pictures of the “celebration” on his 76th birthday (today) or face action.

According to the email that he shared on X, Anganwadi workers were asked to gather rural women, distribute lighted diyas and photograph them ‘celebrating’ PM Modi’s birthday, as well as record videos of women praising the Prime Minister and his yojanas. Follow PM Modi's 76th birthday live updates

“Hi Saurav, my mother works as an Anganwadi worker under the MP Government. For the upcoming 17th, which is also Modi Ji’s birthday, she and other Anganwadi workers have been instructed to gather rural women, distribute lighted diyas, and take pictures of them ‘celebrating’ the PM’s birthday. They’ve also been asked to record videos of women praising the Prime Minister and his yojanas,” the email read.

“All of this is being pushed internally through these small government departments. This needs to be called out. It is deeply authoritarian. She and other workers across the state are being forced to do this under the threat of action against them and their jobs. She also learned that cities like Jabalpur and Khajuraho are organising massive diya sessions with over 2.5 lakh diyas as part of the birthday celebrations,” the email added.

‘Indecent’: Saurav Das slams government

Das shared a screenshot of the email on X and called the treatment of the workers an “indignity.” He slammed the Modi government, saying that if the same effort were put into addressing the problems faced by Anganwadi workers, perhaps these women wouldn’t need to be “ordered” to praise anyone.

“If BJP governments had spent this energy addressing the actual problems Anganwadi workers face—poor pay (5,000 to 10,000 rupees), crushing workloads, vacancies, no social security or healthcare, and centres functioning out of crumbling buildings, then perhaps these women wouldn’t need to be “ordered” to praise anyone,” he said.

He accused the government of doing PR activities, adding that the praise would have come naturally if the government had “genuinely” transformed lives.

“If a government has genuinely transformed their lives, their gratitude will come naturally. But today, these governments are focussed on manufacturing gratitude for the PM with elaborate and coercive PR activities!”

What’s on board for PM birthday

To celebrate PM Modi’s birthday, the Bharatiya Janata Party has lined up a series of events, including a nationwide campaign, diya-lighting drives, school competitions, street plays, influencer outreach and a bike yatra to his hometown.

The party will launch a nationwide outreach campaign on September 17 to mark Modi’s 25 years in public life. Built around the theme of “seva” (service), the campaign will run until October 17 and involve nearly every level of the party and government machinery, from booth workers to chief ministers.

Defence minister Rajnath Singh and Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath will flag off the “Seva Sankalp Bike Yatra” from Varanasi’s Rudraksh International Convention Centre on September 17 to Gujarat’s Vadnagar, Modi’s birthplace, in the presence of Naidu, Union minister Chirag Paswan and UP BJP president Pankaj Chaudhary, said Kashi region BJP chief Ashok Chaurasia. UP deputy chief ministers Keshav Prasad Maurya and Brajesh Pathak, and programme convenor VD Sharma, the Khajuraho MP, will also be present, HT earlier reported.

Also Read: Uttar Pradesh set for PM Modi’s birthday celebrations, top leaders in Varanasi today

Under “Ashirwad Ka Diya”, booth workers will visit the homes of welfare scheme beneficiaries and ask them to light a lamp as a mark of gratitude for government schemes. Schools will host their own campaign, “25 Crore Children’s Dreams of India”, featuring drawing and speech competitions between September 17 and October 7.

“Nukkad nataks”, or street plays, under “Namo Seva Gatha” will be staged in villages, schools and colleges across the country, highlighting 25 years of welfare schemes through music and drama, with a major push planned for October 2.

Anganwadi centres will host a three-day event between September 25 and October 7 called “Aangan Ka Utsav”, where workers will be publicly felicitated and mothers briefed about nutrition and maternity schemes.

Under “Kahani Badlav Ki”, party workers will fan out to document the stories of 2.5 million citizens whose lives, the party says, have been transformed by government schemes. Through the “Viksit Bharat Sankalp Yatra”, 300 to 500 influencers and content creators will be taken to sites the party considers examples of visible change, from the improved security situation in Bastar to Gujarat’s GIFT City and innovation hubs such as iCreate.

The month-long campaign will culminate on October 17 with the “Jansevak Mahakumbh”, where around 125,000 sarpanches (village heads) and other public representatives are expected to gather across Delhi, Gurugram, Ghaziabad, Surajkund and Varanasi.