New Delhi: The BJP is banking on Prime Minister Narendra Modi to gain ground in Chhattisgarh, which goes to polls this year. However, the party’s path to victory hinges on strong local leaders, the state leadership has told chief strategist and Union home minister Amit Shah.
This urgency was conveyed to Shah when he visited Chhattisgarh on 22 July and asked the state unit to buck up, leaders part of the deliberations told ThePrint, citing an internal party survey that “predicted 30-32 seats” for the BJP in the 90-member state assembly.
“We need some local leaders at the forefront of the poll campaign because we can gain popularity only to an extent using PM Modi’s appeal. It can get us 50 per cent of the votes but for the rest, we need some local faces raising local issues,” said a senior Chhattisgarh BJP leader.
He added that “we need some strong faces to counter chief minister Bhupesh Baghel (from the Congress) as well”.
The Congress had in 2018 wrested power from the BJP in Chhattisgarh, which had ruled the state for 15 straight years (2003 to 2018) under the leadership of former chief minister Raman Singh.
Shah has held a number of meetings in the state within a month.
“Amit Shahji shared the feedback received so far and also pointed out that the internal survey was not showing a rosy picture, though it was better than that in the run-up to the 2018 elections,” a second senior BJP leader privy to the 22 July deliberations said.
“Every senior leader has been given separate tasks to ensure there is better coordination and we are able to reach out to the public and counter the Congress campaign,” he added.
A third BJP leader said that though it has been indicated that a chief ministerial candidate is unlikely to be announced, the party should at least announce a campaign committee head.
“The undecided voters will go with the hawaa (trend),” the leader pointed out, adding that while the party has been focusing on tribals and backward castes, it “should also focus on the Scheduled Castes and upper castes”.
“If we manage to get them in their favour and unite them, then we can come closer to gaining power,” said the leader.
A section in the BJP is also upset with the fact that former CM Raman Singh is still getting “undue” importance in the party.
“It seems we have not learnt anything from the 2018 results. There is unrest among the workers due to the excessive importance being placed on Raman Singh and his people. We have a huge task of reducing at least 8 to 10 per cent of Congress votes and that will only happen when a person with ground connect is highlighted by the party,” said the second leader mentioned earlier.
In the 2018 election, the Congress won 68 seats in Chhattisgarh and the BJP 15. The difference in their voteshare was 10 percentage points.
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‘Consider alliance & new faces’
Two of the suggestions that emerged from the 22 July meeting were to strengthen booth-level management and consider fighting the elections in alliance with smaller regional parties in Chhattisgarh, party leaders told ThePrint.
The first BJP leader quoted above said a lot of focus was laid on assembly seats where the BJP is believed to be weak. “The party is also considering not giving tickets to leaders who are above 75-80 years to accommodate for new faces,” said the leader.
During the meeting, Shah asked the state unit to be visible on the ground and to launch agitations. “Amit Shahji said we are in the opposition but somehow that’s not visible on the ground. He asked the state unit to launch more agitations against the current government. He also said separate campaigns presenting a report card of the MLAs should also be started,” the second BJP leader said.
With the party’s internal survey suggesting that it was from attaining majority in the state, a section of the state BJP leaders told Shah the elections should be fought in alliance with regional parties.
“A suggestion has been made to either contest the elections in an alliance, like in Uttar Pradesh, or to support smaller regional parties indirectly, so as to divide the Congress votes. A survey for this is being undertaken and a decision will be made accordingly,” said the second party leader.
Chhattisgarh has many regional parties that have a mass base in their respective areas such as Gondwana Gantantra Party (GGP), which is said to wield influence in the state’s Surguja belt, and Arvind Netam’s outfit in Bastar. Netam, a tribal leader once aligned with the Congress, has been estranged from the ruling party for a few years now.
The state’s tribal-reserved assembly seats are largely concentrated in Surguja (14) and Bastar (12).
“Amit Shahji asked us to focus on seats where the GGP and Bahujan Samaj Party have a strong presence and to make efforts to either win these seats or ensure the Congress candidate doesn’t win. It is in this context that the alliance issue cropped up,” said the second BJP leader.
(Edited by Nida Fatima Siddiqui)