Top BJP leaders to have tea with locals while listening to ‘Mann ki Baat’ today

NEW DELHI: Tea is back in th eB J P’ s arsenal for Gujarat polls.

Over 100 top party leaders from across the country will fan outinGujaraton Sunday to hold debates over tea about the Congress’ “elitist” mindset.

The online magazine of Congress’ youth wing had recently used a ‘chaiwala’ meme to target Prime Minister Na rend ra Mo di’ s background of a tea seller, prompting an immediate counter-attack from the BJP.

On Sunday, BJP leaders will attend programme sat each of the 50,128 polling stations to listen to Modi’s monthly radio speech ‘Mann Ki Baat’. The party’s programme has been named ‘Mann Ki Baat, Chai Ke Saath’.

Prominent among those who are part of the event are B JP president Am it Shah, finance minister A ru nJ a it ley,nineot her Union ministers, Gujarat chief minister Vijay Rupani, and his deputy Nit in Pa tel, among others.

Shah will be in Ahmedabad, Jaitley and petroleum minister Dharmendra Pradhan in Surat, rail minister Piy us hGoy ali nP orband ar, drinking water and sanitation minister Um aBh art i in Vadodara and textiles minister Smri ti Iran ii nJ una gadh.R up a ni will attend the event in Pan ch mahal, while state BJP chiefJitu Vaghani will be in Bhavnagar.

“This is to take to every booth the message about Congress’ elitist mindset, which does not appreciate the rise of people from modest background,” BJP’s social media chief Amit Malviya said. “Leaders will listen to the radio programme with local residents and have tea with them .”

B JP sources said party leaders will discuss with residents how the Congress was uncomfortable with Mo di being the PM and often used derogatory references for him. The BJP has tried to turn tables on its rival, with its workers selling tea outside Congress offices. With the outreach, the party seeks to achieve the twin objectives of invoking Gujarati a sm it a a( pride) and preparing the ground for Modi’s campaign launch on November 27.