Booths, beneficiaries of schemes on top of BJP's agenda ahead of 2024 Lok Sabha polls

The party decided to ensure that each booth across the country has 200 karyakartas and WhatsApp groups to connect with voters

Booths and beneficiaries of government schemes will be at the top of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s agenda ahead of the 2024 general elections. At the party’s meeting of office bearers which kicked off the second day of the party’s annual conclave, it was decided that the party apparatus will focus on these two as it prepares for the next Lok Sabha elections.

“Booths must be strengthened, and leaders must be in touch with booth adhyaksh (president) and karyakartas at all times,” party’s national general secretary and former Rajasthan chief minister Vasundhara Raje said. She added that the party will also discuss ways to reach out to more than 34 crore beneficiaries of the government schemes.

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Raje was speaking to reporters at the end of the three-hour-long meeting, listing the deliberations after it ended; these decisions also set the tone for the meeting of the national executive of the party held later in the day.

In his address to the gathering of office bearers, party president JP Nadda praised the party’s electoral success in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Goa, Manipur and several by-polls, and said PM Narendra Modi’s ‘gareeb kalyan’ schemes helped the party.

While Nadda addressed the meetings of the office-bearers, prime minister Narendra Modi who is in the city to be part of the conclave will address the party leaders at the second meeting of the national executive committee scheduled for Sunday.

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Leaders will now also have to pay special attention to the party’s system of ‘pravas’ where leaders are sent out to villages and towns to spend at least a night there, speaking to people.

To strengthen booths, the party has decided on four key steps. The first is to ensure each booth across the country has 200 karyakartas and WhatsApp groups to connect with the voters. There are more than 10 lakh booths in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. Secondly, the booth workers will devise ways of dissemination of the PM’s monthly radio programme, Mann Ki Baat. The party will also ask its pradesh adhyaksh (state president) and sangathan mantri (state general secretary organisation) to deliberate every week to 10 days on their efforts to empower booths.

“Panna pramukhs of the party will be at the centre of these efforts, they are the foundation of the party and all our electoral efforts are based on them,” Raje said.

The party has also decided to start a campaign called ‘har ghar tiranga’ where it will ask people to unfurl the tricolour in their homes to celebrate 75 years of Independence. Raje said that 20 crore homes will be targeted.

Raje said that it was also decided to issue a statement on the party’s status and prospects in Telangana, the state where the meeting is being held.