Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday asked BJP leaders and workers to come up with “innovative ways” to become a “bridge of faith” for the common man, appearing to caution against slackness ahead of crucial state elections.

His exhortations, coming at the end of the party’s daylong national executive committee meeting in Delhi, followed recent by-election setbacks in strongholds that have darkened the BJP’s mood.

“In his inspiring speech, Modiji asked BJP workers to become the bridge of faith for the common man,” Union minister Bhupendra Yadav said.

He added that this was the key message in Modi’s 50-minute speech at the closed-door meeting. Yadav said Modi also lauded the BJP cadres’ role in tackling the pandemic.

Party leaders said the six-hour meeting, which passed just one resolution, concentrated on praising Modi’s leadership. Modi himself sought to underline the importance of maintaining the party’s bond with the people.

“Modiji said that party workers’ hard work and dedication had established the BJP at the centre and in the states. He went on to tell us that in power, the challenge was to maintain the same connect with the masses and for that we needed to find innovative ways,” a national executive member said.

“He (Modi) seemed to be cautioning against any slackness, as though he could see signs of the bond with the masses weakening.”

Modi’s focus on the party cadres was reflected also in his invocation of a new initiative, “kamal pushp (lotus flower)”, on the NaMo App that is aimed at paying tribute to party workers.

It invites people to “detail their (BJP workers’) stories through website or video links, old newspaper cuttings, old photographs, by penning their contribution in text format or by uploading your own video too which describes their contribution”.

“Modiji seemed focused on highlighting the contribution of the party workers to inspire them to keep working harder,” a BJP leader said.

The BJP’s poor showing in the recent by-elections to 3 Lok Sabha and 30 Assembly seats seemed to hang heavy over the meeting, which came ahead of elections in five states, including the key state of Uttar Pradesh.

Modi sat through the entire meeting, listening attentively to the chief ministers and party unit presidents from the poll-bound states.

The BJP has lost two Lok Sabha seats, one to the Congress in poll-bound Himachal Pradesh and the other to the Shiv Sena in Dadra and Nagar Haveli. It has also lost the three Assembly by-elections held in Himachal.

The crushing defeat in the Bengal Assembly elections in early summer too seemed to haunt the meeting. Party chief J.P. Nadda attacked the Trinamul Congress, alleging State-sponsored violence against BJP workers after the Bengal polls.

“I want to make it clear through the party’s national executive that we are not going to sit quietly. We will fight a decisive democratic battle for our party workers and ensure the lotus blooms,” Nadda was quoted as saying.

He asserted the party would not rest till it had wrested power in Bengal and other states that have so far eluded the BJP.

Nadda also sought to celebrate the BJP’s rise to principal opposition in Bengal. His comments on the eastern state found mention also in the political resolution passed at the meeting.

Addressing the meeting virtually from his home state, Goa chief minister Pramod Sawant too broached the alleged violence against BJP workers in Bengal, betraying jitters at Trinamul’s foray into the upcoming Goa polls.

The importance of the Uttar Pradesh elections was reflected in the special invite to chief minister Yogi Adityanath to attend the meeting physically in Delhi to present the political resolution.

All the other chief ministers joined the meeting virtually.

The meeting accused the Opposition of “tarnishing the country’s image”.

“While India is being praised across the world for the vaccination programme, we also remember the scepticism spread by the Opposition over the vaccination from the very beginning,” finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman said.

Big cut-outs of Modi had been placed outside the venue projecting him as a “vishwa priya neta” (globally loved leader).

Cut-outs of Nadda were there too, but no images of home minister Amit Shah were visible. Party leaders said Shah attended the entire meeting but did not speak.