New Delhi: In a first, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) inaugurated central election offices, in Gujarat, much before the declaration of dates and candidates for the general election. The move is being described by BJP leaders as an ‘experiment’ to mobilise party workers.
Given that the focus is on the party symbol (lotus) and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, there is no need for cadres to wait for the declaration of candidates, said a BJP leader who did not wish to be named.
“Our aim is to ensure the Modi government is once returns to power and we want to better our vote share by at least 10 percent. Gujarat is BJP’s laboratory. It is the biggest testing ground for all kinds of experiments whether at the government or party level and hence the party decided to launch this campaign from here,” said the senior BJP leader from Gujarat.
“So it doesn’t matter that the candidates have not been declared yet. Party workers will ensure that voters get to know all about what the Modi government has been doing at the centre. The cadres have been asked to hit the ground running and now they have one official office to reach out to, apart from the state offices,” the leader added.
On 23 January, BJP president J.P. Nadda was in Gandhinagar where he along with CM Bhupendra Patel and Gujarat BJP chief C.R. Paatil inaugurated the party’s election office in person, while also inaugurating the remaining 25 offices virtually.
आज गुजरात में माननीय केंद्रीय गृहमंत्री श्री @AmitShah जी के लोकसभा क्षेत्र गांधीनगर के केंद्रीय चुनाव कार्यालय का श्रीगणेश करने का सौभाग्य प्राप्त हुआ साथ ही प्रदेश में 25 अन्य लोकसभा क्षेत्रों के लिए चुनाव कार्यालयों का उद्घाटन किया जा रहा है।
मुझे पूर्ण विश्वास है कि गुजरात… pic.twitter.com/vAmwlKpEW5
— Jagat Prakash Nadda (@JPNadda) January 23, 2024
This marks the first instance of the party inaugurating central election offices in parliamentary constituencies without declaring the candidate. Though first implemented in Gujarat, this strategy is likely to be replicated by the party across the country.
According to party sources, similar offices have also been opened in parts of Madhya Pradesh, while in Rajasthan, last-minute details are being worked out before the offices can be inaugurated.
“This is basically to get into election mode much before the elections are announced. The launch of the office means that all kinds of election machinery which is required will be made available,” Gujarat BJP chief spokesperson Yamal Vyas told ThePrint.
Asked whether this was the first time the party set up central election offices before declaring candidates, Vyas said: “Yes, on all 26 seats this is the first time that offices have been made operational (before declaration of candidate).”
“Our aim is to maximise our seats and the only way to achieve that is by ensuring we get cracking immediately. We are not taking anyone lightly and are focusing on getting more seats than the last time and this requires an election machinery to be in place. These offices will later serve as offices of the party’s candidates,” said a second party leader.
“Gujarat has always been a political laboratory for us and whatever new experiments are carried out they generally start from here whether it is giving preference to new faces from corporation level to state government, the size of the cabinet or the saffron BJP cap — many of these political experiments have been successful in Gujarat,” the leader added.
Madhya Pradesh BJP chief V.D. Sharma told ThePrint that the aim is to open central election offices in all of the state’s 29 parliamentary constituencies by 30 January. The party is not leaving any stone unturned and these offices are a step in that direction, he added.
“PM Modi has already said that ‘Kamal’ hee humari umeed aur umeedwar hai (lotus alone is our hope and candidate). So it doesn’t matter that the list of candidates has not been announced yet. Our job is to work for the party. We have already opened a number of central election offices and by the 30th itself we would have covered all the constituencies.”
(Edited by Amrtansh Arora)
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