New Delhi: Peeved over the feedback he got during visits to the BJP state units, including states where the party is in power, BJP president Amit Shah has asked the state leaderships, including chief ministers, that party leaders (including ministers) must spend at least three days each month in villages in their respective constituencies and submit a report about their “pravas”. Mr Shah is on a nationwide tour of state units ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha polls to gauge the BJP’s “real organisational strength” and to identify and rectify problems ahead of the key battle.
Also, with an eye on the numerically-dominat OBC votebank, Mr Shah asked the chief ministers of states that will go to the polls this year and next year to focus more on the community and “build more trust” with the poor. Mr Shah, who recently met the chief ministers of BJP-ruled states, told them that all ministers must spend at least three days each month in the villages, and send a report to the BJP president’s office. Mr Shah also plans to seek feedback from the ground level about these “efforts” by ministers and senior leaders in their village visits, which will also be considered when the party is finalising the candidates’ lists for the Assembly polls.
Both Mr Shah and Prime Minister Narendra Modi have on many occasions stressed on building continuous “sampark” (connect) and “samvaad” (dialogue) with the masses, and asked party leaders, mainly ministers, to be accessible to the people, even through the social media.
The BJP leadership has asked its leaders and supporters to highlight how the Opposition, led by the Congress, had stalled a key government measure to grant the OBC
Commission constitutional status during the Monsoon Session of Parliament.
The Centre’s decision to raise the creamy layer ceiling to Rs 8 lakhs per annum and the proposed commission to examine the sub-categorisation of OBCs were also seen as a political move in several quarters.
