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 the Swaminarayan sect at a function in Vadodara, Nadda also said politics needs religion the most.

“One question is frequently asked in 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.

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“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.

Nadda’s statement comes at a time when nationwide protests are taking place against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and National Register of Citizens (NRC) which is seen as a discriminatory law against the Muslims.

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 liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) connections to poor families.

However, the government on Wednesday increased the price of non-subsidised  LPG by Rs 19 per cylinder on the back of a rise in international rates. This marks a fifth straight monthly hike in the prices. With effect from January 1, the non-subsidised LPG rates were revised to Rs 714 per cylinder in Delhi and Rs 684.50 per cylinder in Mumbai.

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.

However, multiple projects like the Char Dham road project in Uttarakhand have led to a large scale of landslides due to deforestation. The Aarey car shed project for Mumbai metro had also come under criticism and protests for the large scale of deforestation under BJP government in Maharashtra. The project has been put on hold by the Shiv Sena led government now.