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BJP chalks out goals for cadres as it steps up prep for 2024 Lok Sabha elections
The BJP leadership has mapped targets for the party cadre as it begins preparations for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leadership has mapped targets for the party cadre, such as enrolling new members, enlisting the support of self-help groups and non-government organisations that work for women and children, and organising conferences or “jan sabhas” for professionals and caste groups, as it begins preparations for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls.
According to BJP functionaries, the contours of the programmes will be finalised at a meeting of morcha (wing) heads with party president JP Nadda on January 6.
“The party’s election campaign will be mounted on two pillars, the achievements and leadership of the Narendra Modi government in the last two terms and the promise of building on the foundations laid so far. These morchas have the task of taking that message to the electorate,” said a senior party functionary aware of the matter who asked not to be named.
While the process of ensuring full delivery of all government schemes has already begun in the form of Viksit Bharat Yatra, the morchas will reach out to the beneficiaries of these schemes to secure their support and seek their feedback. Beneficiaries, or “labharatis”, have emerged as a crucial support base for the BJP over the last five years.
“Membership drive is carried out through the year, but ahead of the polls, the process is being given more attention. For instance, the Yuva Morcha, or youth wing, has been given the target of reaching out to first-time voters, and ensuring they are registered as voters and made aware of the BJP’s policies for that demographic,” the person quoted above said.
Conferences for first-time voters, and meetings in rural and urban areas with the focus on street plays and outreach through social media platforms, are also on the agenda.
The concerted outreach is critical to the party’s plans of increasing its vote and seat share in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls. While the party has not set a target, senior leaders indicated that it wants to secure more seats than in the previous two general elections. In 2014, the BJP won 272 seats with a vote share of 31% and in 2019 it won 303 seats with a vote share of 37.36%.
With women emerging as a key vote bank that played a key role in shaping a favourable outcome for the party in a clutch of state elections, including the recent wins in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan, the Mahila Morcha, or women’s wing, has been tasked to ensure there is no slide in the support.
“While we have already been working on enlisting Kamal Sakhis (friends of BJP), and Kamal Shakti warriors, we will now focus on reaching out to self help groups and NGOs that have benefitted from central government schemes. In every state there are a number of SHGs that were created through aid from the centre, which in turn has helped a string of women,” said Vanathi Srinivasan, head of the Mahila Morcha.
The minority morcha, which has been working to create a bridge between the BJP and members of the Christian and Muslim communities, will also accelerate the outreach with community-specific programmes.
“The task of organising sneh samvaad (friendly discussions) has begun, but in the run up to the polls, we will organise 10,000 such programmes, or about 20 events per Lok Sabha constituency. Two large jan sabhas will be held in every constituency in addition to programmes specifically for women, youth and traders among the minorities,” said Jamal Siddiqui, head of the Minority Morcha.
Similar outreach events have been planned by the Scheduled Caste and Schedule Tribe wings, and the morcha that works with the farmers and agriculturists. A large congregation of other backward classes (OBCs), too, has been planned by the OBC Morcha.
“The morchas have been asked to step up outreach by putting more boots on the ground in those Lok Sabha seats where the BJP is either weak or has lost by a thin margin. There will be added focus in the five southern states, where the BJP wants to shatter the notion of being a north Indian entity, and in the 160 Lok Sabha seats which have been a stronghold of the Opposition,” said a second party functionary on condition of anonymity.
