42K WhatsApp groups, 40L booth-level workers: How BJP won MP assembly polls

New Delhi: Deploying 14 senior leaders of the party across the state’s 14 districts, forming more than 42,000 WhatsApp groups to reach out to voters, and engaging over 40 lakh booth level workers to carry out a poll strategy laid out by Union Home Minister Amit Shah were among the steps that BJP carried out to script a victory in Madhya Pradesh.

Members of BJP’s state unit said that preparations for the elections began in January last year with booth strengthening exercises.

One of the first of these exercises were taken up during the centenary celebrations of party president Kushabhau Thakre, who hailed from MP’s Dhar district. In his memory, BJP carried out a campaign to form a booth committee across each of the state’s 64,523 booths.

By March last year, booth committees were formed and BJP carried out an interaction with all the committee members. All the party’s organisational leaders starting from booth committee workers to BJP president took part in the exercise, state leaders said.

Keeping in mind a bit the disenchantment with the party, over 14 senior leaders were assigned a district each, and they were tasked with listening to the people’s grievances. BJP’s local unit leaders, panchayat officials and several groups of people were engaged in over 50 meetings. State BJP president VD Sharma sais that a strong booth structure helped them.

“It is natural for voters to have some amount of grievances, but due to our strong booth structure, we could do this course correction. Every karyakarta was engaged and the whole party worked hard,” Sharma added.

Closer to the elections in August this year, BJP also carried out a membership drive where over 17 lakh new people joined the party.

“We carried out a missed call campaign, and sought to make atleast 10 new SC/ST and 10 new women members across booths. Over 95 lakh missed calls were generated, of which 68 lakh were unique members and 17 lakh new members,” a state unit leader said.

The party also carried out another booth strengthening exercise in line with the central BJP’s ‘booth sashaktikaran’ campaign early this year, said local leaders.

“Through this campaign 10,916 shakti kendras were formed, and in 84.6 per cent booths we had panna pramukhs,” the leader added.

BJP also formed over 42,000 WhatsApp groups among the 64,000 booths to disseminate the party’s election messaging.

Based on the results of the Assembly elections in 2018, where BJP lost, the 200 seats in the MP were divided in four categories and party workers were sent out the details digitally.

By October this year, BJP’s 40 lakh karyakartas were given a print each - 15-point election agenda drawn up by Shah - which they were asked to replicate.