Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s late-night huddle with senior party leaders on Wednesday has indicated the party has begun seriously reviewing its preparations and strategies for the coming Assembly elections, along with campaign points like the Uniform Civil Code (UCC).
Besides Home Minister Amit Shah, BJP president J P Nadda and General Secretary B L Santhosh had attended the meet at the Prime Minister’s residence. Chhatisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Telangana and Mizoram will have Assembly polls, ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
In an elaborate exercise on stock-taking and identifying gaps, the Prime Minister is likely to convene a meeting of his Council of Ministers on 3rd July at the Pragati Maidan convention centre, while the BJP chief is initiating a series of meetings with senior party leaders for three days from 6th July.
The Prime Minister had a few days ago addressed the party’s booth level leaders across several States from Bhopal and answered their questions, giving detailed guidelines the party was to follow for its aggressive pre-poll campaigns.
The Prime Minister has asked party MPs to closely examine the condition of the deprived sections of the society in their constituencies and attend to their needs. The party hopes to get the support of the mass of population which has benefited under the Government’s various welfare schemes.
The Prime Minister is keen that performance of members of his Council of Ministers and party MPs in carrying forward the Government’s pro-people initiatives be collected and recorded so as to see if there are any gaps.
Mr Nadda’s participation in the Prime Minister’s meeting sparked conjecture about possible changes within the government and the BJP organization, including at the state level, as the party prepares for upcoming assembly elections.
Party sources said that the party has divided various States and union territories into three zones for Mr Nadda’s meetings so that discussions can be held collectively, while leaders can also give their specific suggestions.
The region-wise meetings will be held in Delhi, Guwahati and Hyderabad. The BJP is in power in Madhya Pradesh. The party has classified the states and union territories into three zones – north, south and east to evolve a cohesive and coherent poll strategy.
The party will not hesitate to take the fullest advantage of the scams and scandals the Opposition Governments were involved in and faced public exposure. At the same time, the party wants to assess the implementation of the welfare schemes on which the Government spent much time and labour, along with providing liberal funds.
“The meeting for the east zone is scheduled to take place in Guwahati on 6 July, while for the north zone it will be held in Delhi on 7 July. The meeting for the south zone will be held in Hyderabad on 8 July,” sources said.
Chief Ministers and Deputy Chief Ministers of BJP-ruled states, MPs, MLAs, party in-charges of these states, state party chiefs, those with organisational responsibilities and members of the national executive from the respective states in the region will take part in the meetings.
The presence of senior leaders at one place will help the party gain collective feedback from the grassroots and evolve the party’s strategy in the light of evolving situation.