A two-day ‘Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya Maha Prashikshan Abhiyan’ training programme for BJP State, district and mandal-level leaders began here on Wednesday (May 20, 2026).

The programme was inaugurated by BJP State president P.V.N. Madhav, along with Kasam Venkateswara Rao, convener of the BJP Southern States Training Committee.

Addressing the first session, on the ideological foundations of the BJP, Mr. Madhav said the party followed the principle of ‘Nation First, Party Next and Individual Last’.

He said the party had adopted ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai’ as its guiding slogan, and that Hindu philosophy promoted equality, harmony and universal brotherhood.

Referring to the lotus, the party symbol, he said it represented democracy, equality, communal harmony, value-based politics and nationalism.

Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya’s philosophy of integral humanism, he said, formed the party’s ideological base and focused on ensuring welfare reached the last person in society.

NTR district BJP president Adduri Sriram took part in the programme.

Meanwhile, addressing a separate press conference in Amaravati, BJP State general secretary Nagothu Ramesh Naidu praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi for improving India’s global image. He said Mr. Modi’s international engagements were receiving unprecedented recognition and strengthening diplomatic ties with several nations.

Criticising the YSRCP over protests against fuel price hikes, Mr. Ramesh Naidu said India imported nearly 98 per cent of its petroleum needs and that tensions in West Asia had affected supplies. He accused the previous YSRCP government of refusing to cut taxes on petrol and diesel despite appeals from the Centre.

He added that Andhra Pradesh was attracting investments and industrial projects under the leadership of Mr. Modi and Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu, and that the BJP would hold outreach programmes from June 5 to 21 to publicise the Union Government’s welfare schemes.