'15 lakh workers to be 'backbone' of BJP's LS campaign'

The BJP will field over 15 lakh trained workers, 15 times more than it had in 2014, to drive its Lok Sabha election campaign, a party leader said Saturday.

BJP general secretary P Muralidhar Rao, who is in charge of the party's training department, said the trained manpower will give the party an edge over its rivals in the general elections as no other political party can claim an "asset" like this.

"In all the elections since 2015, this trained workforce has contributed in a big way in swinging the poll outcome in the BJP's favour. We are sure that in the 2019 election also, this massive training programme will have a huge impact in ensuring voter turnout and support for the party," he told reporters.

Less than a lakh trained workers were fielded by the party for electioneering in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, he said.

Rao claimed that it was due to this massive organisational backup that the saffron party was able to put its rivals far behind in several state assembly elections since 2015 and also managed to put up a "decent show" when it was seen not faring well in some other state polls.

Several BJP leaders have referred to the narrow gap between its and the Congress' vote shares in the Rajasthan assembly polls to assert that the saffron party remains in a strong position there to do well in the Lok Sabha polls.

In all future elections, Rao said, this trained manpower with leadership potential will prove an additional asset for the BJP which no other political party can claim. "The BJP is approaching the general election 2019 with this reserve of a trained political cadre. This is a unique and unprecedented experiment in the history of the BJP. These trained workers will form the backbone of the party's workforce and leadership reserve in the days to come," he said.