Shah reviews BJP prep to contest polls solo

Mumbai: Although BJP national president Amit Shah on Wednesday said that the BJP will fight the 2019 elections in alliance with the Shiv Sena, he also reviewed the state BJP’s preparations for contesting the polls solo.

After meeting Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray, Mr Shah conducted a review meeting, for which, chief minister Devendra Fadnavis; state party president Raosaheb Danve; organising secretary Vijay Puranik; and a few other senior leaders were present. Despite Mr Shah having given a proposal of alliance to the Sena, the latter may not agree to the alliance.

Hence, the BJP has already started preparations to fight the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections on its own. Periodical surveys are underway and the performance report of BJP MPs is being prepared. Mr Shah will review all of this. The BJP has classified constituencies as: favourable (where the party will surely win); constituencies with potential (where the party can win if it works hard); and non-favourable (where the party has never won and where it is not possible for the party to win). The BJP is working on a strategy where the party is looking at local issues in each constituency. Mr Shah has been briefed by the CM and other party leaders about booth-level appointments and the party’s efforts to reach out to the people. The CM has discussed with Mr Shah important state-level issues including the farmers’ agitations etc.

 The BJP has different plans for constituencies that have BJP MPs and those that have non-BJP MPs. The party may get important leaders from other parties to join it. So, the strategy is rather fluid and will be finalised as per the requirement. Sources said that Mr Shah was briefed on these and various other issues.

Regarding the BJP-Sena alliance, in 2014, the BJP took the blame for breaking the 25-year-old alliance after a thumping victory in the Lok Sabha elections. To avoid getting the blame again, both Mr Shah and the CM are pushing for an alliance with the Sena. Sources even said that the BJP wants to show how despite all its efforts, the Sena has been adamant about wanting out of the alliance.