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Uttarakhand BJP to replicate Gujarat’s ‘panna pramukh’ model in 2019 polls
Uttarakhand BJP president Ajay Bhatt told HT that the ‘panna pramukh’ model used by the BJP in the Gujarat elections proved “successful” for the party and so they have decided to replicate that model in the state next year.
The Uttarakhand unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will emulate the Gujarat election model of ‘panna pramukh’ to target voters during the general elections scheduled next year, party’s state president Ajay Bhatt has said.
Speaking to Hindustan Times, Bhatt, who lost in the Uttarakhand assembly election in 2017 even as his party swept the polls, winning 57 of the 70 seats, said on Wednesday the model used by the BJP in the Gujarat elections proved “successful” for the party and so they have decided to replicate that model in the state next year.
Under the model, the party appoints a pramukh (or prabhari) who is given a list (panna, literally page) of names of 8-12 families. Each pramukh is asked to focus on these families to create a larger vote base. The model was first used in Gujarat when the saffron party rode to power for three successive terms. But it was successfully implemented in the Lok Sabha elections in 2014 by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, a HIndutva organsiation and the ideological mentor of the BJP.
Since then, the BJP has repeatedly gone back to this model to win assembly elections elsewhere. The model became a potential tool for disseminating political messages, voter mobilisation, inter-personal contact with voters and, lastly, direct feedback from the ground.
The BJP is currently facing two challenges in the state - uproar against anti-encroachment drive and unrest among legislators due to non-distribution of ministerial responsibilities.
“The Congress may be using anti-encroachment drive with claims that it’s a decision of the state government, but it’s a judicial order and we have to follow it,” Bhatt said, while admitting that the issue could be “used against (his) party” in the local body elections later this year and the Lok Sabha elections next year.
He, however, said the government was “making arrangements”. “Chief minister (Trivendra Singh Rawat) has ensured arrangement for the displaced groups. Places like Premnagar, where people lost their homes and shops, will be provided with alternatives,” he said.
One key challenge would be to remove encroachment in Rudrpaur town. The Nainital high court had directed the government to ensure the removal of encroachments spread over 551.89 hectares in Rudrapur where 14,000 such establishments were identified.
“The entire Rudrpaur town is located on ‘nazool’ (government) land. Thousands of families will be displaced there. A government order will be released soon to ensure no harm is done to the people in the area,” Bhatt said.
At the same time, the BJP has to also strengthen its state unit with legislators disappointed due to non-distribution of ministerial responsibilities.
“Under Vistarak Yojana, our central leaders Shyam Jaju and Shiv Prakash will be travelling to several places beginning October 10 and contacting our leaders as well as party workers. It’s an initiative to strengthen the organisation,” he said.
Bhatt was all praise for the Ayushman Bharat scheme, the central government’s health initiative that provides Rs 5 lakh cover to economically backward. The Uttarakhand government has, however, modified the scheme to cover the entire state, and renamed it as Atal Ayushman Uttarakhand Yojna. “The scheme that promises health cover to all families in the state will be launched soon,” the BJP leader said.
