E-Paper
BJP looks to expand its footprint, focus on welfare schemes in 2023
The Bharatiya Janata Party cadre has been handed out a three-point agenda to work on by Prime Minister Narendra Modi as the party prepares for electoral contests spread over the next 17 months
NEW DELHI: The Bharatiya Janata Party cadre has been handed out a three-point agenda to work on by Prime Minister Narendra Modi as the party prepares for electoral contests spread over the next 17 months.
At a closed-door meeting with senior party leaders in December, Modi underlined the need to focus on “kaam, vichaar and sangathan (work, ideas and organisation)” to emerge victorious in the upcoming elections in nine state and the 2024 general election, according to people aware of the details.
Modi was emphatic that based on the work done by the BJP governments in several states and at the Centre, the party will need to seek re-election in a bunch of assembly elections in 2023, which is also seen as a precursor to the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
“There has been a concerted effort to increase the party’s footprint across the country, and on breaching territories that have been traditionally the strongholds of the Left or regional satraps,” said a party functionary, declining to be named. “To do so, the party has adopted a two-pronged approach -- setting up offices and enrolling members, and ensuring the implementation of social welfare schemes.”
The stress on work, the functionary said was in recognition to the response that social welfare schemes and sops drew in the wake of the economic turbulence wreaked by the Covid pandemic. He cited the examples of Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat, where party bucked anti- incumbency and overcame administrative deficiencies to retain power on the basis of its welfare measures.
“It has been a tumultuous time for global economy since Covid struck. It impacted jobs, health care and education, but the government stepped in with relief measures and (in May 2020) announced a ₹20 lakh crore economic package. The free ration provided to 800 million people has prevented people from going hungry...it is work like this that helped the BJP win elections in 2022,” the functionary said.
The year 2022 saw the party retain power in Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Goa, Uttarakhand and Manipur. It, however, registered losses in Punjab, Himachal Pradesh and in the civic polls in Delhi.
The party is hopeful that its welfare schemes, which include houses for the poor, delivery of piped water, power, health cover and subsidies for farmers, among others, coupled with the popularity of Modi, who is the face of all elections, will tip the scales in its favour.
The emphasis on performance and delivery of schemes will allow the party to elicit support of a constituency of people who may not be ideologically tethered to the BJP and its ideological parent, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), a second functionary said, seeking anonymity.
“The BJP has been upfront about its ideology, and whether it was our promise to construct a grand Ram Temple in Ayodhya or repealing Article 370 from Jammu and Kashmir, as mentioned in our manifesto, we have fulfilled our commitment to our core supporters,” said the second functionary, who is also in-charge of a poll-bound state. “But ideological issues tend to have a shelf life or limitations. To overcome these, we need a robust mechanism of a party that is active on the ground and a government that performs.”
Strengthening the party organisation and ironing out differences that threaten its electoral ambitions has been accentuated by the loss in Himachal Pradesh, where rebels were blamed for the party’s loss.
“It is equally important for us to ensure that a new crop of leaders who will lead the party in the years to come are also ready and groomed,” the first functionary said. “This will also reduce the dependence on the central leadership.”
In line with Modi’s instruction, in the poll-bound states of Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Karnataka, Telangana, Chhattisgarh, Mizoram, Meghalaya and Nagaland, the party has begun outreach programmes and started identifying the issues that could prove to be an electoral challenge.
In states scheduled to go to polls later in the year such as Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Telangana and Chhattisgarh, there is speculation of organisational changes that could be mirrored at the central level, with a possible change in roles and responsibilities of some leaders.
Senior party leaders and union ministers have also been handed out a list of mandates to carry out in these poll-bound states, but with an eye on the 2024 elections.
“The party recently revised the list of constituencies that need attention from 144 to 160. While it is crucial for the BJP to win states across regions, and in view of the impact it has on its presence in the Rajya Sabha, the big test is the next Lok Sabha election, where the idea is to beat our own 2019 record of winning 303 seats,” the second functionary said.
