Following Karnataka debacle, BJP plans massive outreach for 2024 Lok Sabha elections

In the immediate aftermath of the debacle in Karnataka, the BJP is setting its sights on the other election-going states. Kickstarting its preparations for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the party has chalked out a month-long programme, to mark the ninth anniversary of the Modi government, where the prime minister and several union ministers will carry out rallies across Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Telangana.

The rallies and meetings will be carried out from May 30 to June 30, and Modi is expected to hold a programme in either Rajasthan or Telangana on May 30.

A senior leader involved in the process said that special personal contact programmes on a range of issues are to be carried out by union ministers. And the focus will be on 250 Lok Sabha seats, where key leaders have been asked to meet industry leaders, army veterans, sportspersons etcetera. In these 250 Lok Sabha seats, the party has drawn up a list of 1.5 lakh families, who will be contacted by the ministers.

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Flagship schemes of the Modi government in the last nine years, as well the number of beneficiaries will be highlighted by the leaders in their public meetings, said the leader. “Whether it is Ayushman Bharat, or PM Kisan, or PM Samman Nidhi, the poor have benefitted in the last few years under our government. In the previous term, revolutions were brought by programmes like Swachch Bharat and Make in India,” the leader said.

Over 50 rallies are to be held as part of the month-long blitzkrieg, and in over 350 Lok Sabha seats interactions are to be held. Announcements will be made by the various media departments of the party on May 29, said the leader.

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With the 2024 Lok Sabha elections in mind, the BJP has started work in the past year with a Lok Sabha Pravas programme, where union ministers are given a constituency where they are to spend a night every fortnight. The party had also intensified focus on 144 seats it lost in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, which later increased to 160 seats.

In Karnataka, where the party suffered a crushing defeat, the five guarantees of the Congress – including 200 units of electricity and free bus rides – has made it important for the BJP to look at either reinventing or highlighting its beneficiaries model, which helped them win in states like Uttar Pradesh and Assam.

A survey by Lokniti CSDS shows that the BJP caught 54 per cent of the votes among the beneficiaries of central government schemes, while the Congress bagged 28 per cent of those votes. Among voters who did not benefit from any central scheme, though, the Congress gained 54 per cent of votes, while the BJP won 24 per cent.