Bhopal: Union home minister Amit Shah on Wednesday held a series of meetings with senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders from Madhya Pradesh to discuss the road map for the assembly elections later this year and 2024 Lok Sabha polls, party functionaries said.
Shah, who was on his second visit to the poll-bound state within a fortnight, took a stock of party’s organisational strength, poll preparedness and anti-incumbency during closed-door meetings, a senior BJP leader said, requesting anonymity.
Shah held meetings with Union ministers Jyotiraditya Scindia, Narendra Singh Tomar and Ashwini Vaishnav, chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, party’s state president VD Sharma and other senior leaders.
Shah’s visit came amid reports of rift among senior leaders and internal feud among ministers of the BJP-led state government. Shah is providing directions to the state unit to have a united campaign, the senior leader said.
“In 2018, BJP was strong as an organisation in the state and there was a unity among leaders but now the situation is totally different. There are many leaders, who are fighting with each other and complaining to top leadership. This was giving wrong message among public of infighting. So, the central leadership has decided to lead the election campaign,” another BJP leader said.
The Union home minister has asked the state unit to complete campaign targets within 15 days and to strengthen the organisation first, with a clear message that no changes will be made at the organisation level as well as in the government, the first leader said. “On his earlier visit, Shah saw presentation of different wings of BJP to know their plan about election campaign,” the leader added.
{{/usCountry}}The Union home minister has asked the state unit to complete campaign targets within 15 days and to strengthen the organisation first, with a clear message that no changes will be made at the organisation level as well as in the government, the first leader said. “On his earlier visit, Shah saw presentation of different wings of BJP to know their plan about election campaign,” the leader added.
{{/usCountry}}The Madhya Pradesh assembly elections will be held later this year, along with four other states — Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Telangana and Mizoram.
Political analyst Dinesh Gupta said frequent visits by the Union ministers point at internal feud within the state’s top leadership. “The state BJP has no leader that can be seen as acceptable to all its leaders due to internal fragmentations,” Gupta said. “This is the major reason behind the increase in interference of central leadership. Lok Sabha elections are also a reason.”
BJP spokesperson Hitesh Bajpai said, “Unlike Congress, we are working as one organisation from central to state. We are running simultaneous campaign for assembly as well as Lok Sabha elections and that is why discussion with central leaders are taking place regularly. Unitedly, we will stand tall with better coordination.”