Guj BJP: 2019 polls fight for sovereignty of India

The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Gujarat has dubbed the 2019 Lok Sabha elections as a fight for “sovereignty” of India.

“The 2019 polls are no normal elections. It is an election for the sovereignty of India. Keeping in view the enemy states in the neighbourhood and global competition, it is important that once again a government under the leadership of Narendra Modi is formed. The BJP will win this fight for sovereignty,” Gujarat BJP chief Jitu Vaghani said.

He was speaking at the second day of the party's two-day 'Chintan Shivir' at temple premises of Swaminarayan Sect in Ahmedabad to formulate a strategy to retain all the 26 Lok Sabha seats from Gujarat.

In the last General Election, the BJP had won all the Lok Sabha seats from Gujarat, riding on “son of the soil” wave.

However, since then the political landscape has changed, with the rise of agitations from several sections of the society, be it farmers, Patels, OBCs or Dalits.

The BJP got restricted to less than 100 seats in the 182-seat Gujarat Assembly in 2017 elections. The party also does not have a single legislator in 10 of the 33 districts.

The BJP was also ousted from Saurashtra region after a gap of two-and-a-half decades, on the lines of local self-government elections held in 2016. And in Modi era, it is perhaps for the first time that BJP MPs have voiced their concerns against the government openly.

The two-day meet was also attended by Chief Minister Vijay Rupani, his deputy Nitin Patel, Union ministers Purushottam Rupala and Mansukh Mandavia, with notable attendee being BJP National President Amit Shah on Monday.

Interestingly, Shah was to attend the meeting for the entire day but he arrived at the meet only in the afternoon.

The two Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) leaders Yashwant Chaudhary and Chintan Upadhyay also attended the meet. “We respect Sangh, which is our strength and provides us guidance, as an observer and supporter,” Raju Dhruv, senior BJP leader said.

While the discussions were held behind closed doors, the talks are believed to be held around 10 key issues, including finding ways to reach out to every household with positive message about the government’s performance, ways to make optimum use of party members, right up to booth-level and analysis the party’s position in each of the 26 Lok Sabha constituencies.

The meet is said to have passed a resolution to win all the 26 Lok Sabha seats in Gujarat.