New Delhi: The BJP is preparing to send its leaders and workers to every assembly constituency of Bihar to reach out to the people and strengthen its support base. This push for the NDA-governed state comes amid a rocky phase in ties between coalition partners BJP and Janata Dal (United).
As part of the outreach, the BJP will hold a joint meeting of its different wings — Kisan Morcha, Mahila Morcha, SC Morcha, Yuva Morcha, ST Morcha, OBC Morcha and Minority Morcha — on 30-31 July, besides organising a “pravas” in Bihar constituencies on 28-29 July.
BJP national president J.P. Nadda and national general secretary B.L. Santhosh will chair the joint meeting, which will be attended by the chairpersons, general secretaries and other functionaries of the BJP wings in all states.
The BJP’s planned interactions at the assembly level in Bihar are modelled on a similar outreach that central ministers and leaders made in Telangana ahead of the party’s national executive meeting in Hyderabad earlier this month.
“Similar to what happened in Telangana, which was appreciated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, before this joint meeting too, all leaders of the BJP wings will be allocated different assembly segments,” said a senior BJP leader.
“They will hold meetings with voters and explain to them the schemes of the Modi government and what all has been done so far.”
When asked if the party workers will also visit the constituencies represented by the JD(U), the BJP leader said it was “an organisational affair and efforts are being made to strengthen the party”.
Another leader said: “Our focus is on ensuring that we are strong in each and every part of Bihar. The alliance is definitely there but that does not mean we will not try to strengthen our party.”
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Modus operandi
Sources in the BJP said plans for the outreach programme are still being chalked out and will include all 243 assembly seats of Bihar.
As part of the programme devised so far, the sources added, seats dominated by the Scheduled Caste (SC) communities in Bihar will be assigned to SC Morcha officebearers. The latter, it is learnt, will be tasked with making the people aware of the work that has been undertaken in the state, and by the Modi government at the Centre, and what all is being planned.
Similarly, the OBC Morcha officebearers will be assigned OBC-dominated seats.
“Minority Morcha, Yuva Morcha, ST Morcha and others have been given similar responsibilities. The Mahila Morcha is a significant front and more so for Bihar. It has been asked to communicate with women in Bihar,” added a party functionary.
Speaking to ThePrint, Rekha Gupta, national vice-president of the BJP Mahila Morcha, said workers from the organisation will visit constituencies and initiate a dialogue with people ahead of the joint BJP meeting.
“The interaction will help us understand what the expectations of the people are. At the same time, we will be able to inform them about the policies and schemes of the Centre and the state government,” she added. “We will also have meetings with beneficiaries of central government schemes and listen to public grievances.”
Since the 2020 assembly elections, the BJP has been the senior alliance partner in Bihar, having won 74 seats against the JD(U)’s 43. In the two years since, BJP leaders have frequently — publicly — spoken out against the Nitish Kumar government’s policies, such as the prohibition law.
The JD(U) was reportedly kept out of preparations for the BJP’s grand celebration this April in honour of freedom fighter Kunwar Singh’s 1857 capture of the Jagdishpur Fort from the British.
The JD(U), on its part, has also been seeking to corner the BJP on thorny issues such as caste census in the state.
(Edited by Nida Fatima Siddiqui)
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