PM reportedly takes stock of the implementation of various govt schemes, urges party to employ fresh communication strategies in poll-bound states.
New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi seems to have kickstarted the preparations for this year’s assembly elections and the 2019 general elections. He hosted BJP president Amit Shah and the party’s general secretaries for dinner Thursday, with the meet continuing till about 10 pm.
The dinner was attended by the party’s seven national general secretaries – P. Muralidhar Rao, Ram Madhav, Saroj Pandey, Bhupender Yadav, Kailash Vijayvargiya, Arun Singh, Anil Jain – and Ram Lal, the general secretary (organisation).
While exiting the PM’s residence, the office-bearers remained tight-lipped. Sources, however, said the meet was all about “the organisation and its workings”.
Lasting over three hours, the dinner meeting is learnt to be one where Modi urged the party to employ fresh communication strategies in poll-bound states. Sources also indicated that the PM reviewed all the work done so far, since these office-bearers are also in charge of the various states.
Quizzed about this meeting, some senior leaders of the BJP said it was routine – that the PM had been hosting a dinner in the month of January every year. But there were others who confirmed that it was indeed a review/planning meeting for upcoming elections.
Speaking before the meet, sources said that the plan was for each leader to give a detailed status report about the implementation of central government schemes in each state, along with the potential impact on the party’s position.
“There are important states which are poll-bound and we need to take stock of what the party is doing right and wrong in those states. Plus, it will double up as preparation for the 2019 elections,” a source said.
“Over the dinner, the PM takes feedback on the status of government policies in the states, and of the party’s condition in the states in view of elections.”
It is learnt that among PM Modi’s top priorities is to woo new voters born around the turn of the millennium.
“The PM has reiterated the importance of millennial voters in his speeches, and the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha has begun making a plan for that,” added a source.