Shah’s strategy focuses on poll day mobilisation
BJP chief has urged boothlevel units to concentrate on mass contact
SURAT: “I don’t need to tell you what to do. We have been doing this in Gujarat. Gujarat has, in fact, taught the rest of the country. We have to do it again.”
When BJP chief Amit Shah met party workers from Surat district last week, he emphasised the importance of party sangathan (structure) in mobilising voters on polling day; and offered only one new instruction:
“I want all of you—shakti kendra in charge, booth committee members, page presidents, active members—and your families to vote before 10.30 am. And then you spend the rest of the day mobilising others.”
As Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi continues with his public rallies, Shah is busy addressing party gatherings with one objective—poll day logistics and mobilisation.
On Sunday, he met the chiefs of ‘shakti kendras’— an organisational unit comprising a few booths—of Gandhinagar, Ahmedabad, Mehsana, Patan and Banaskantha.
Late last week, the BJP chief met workers from Vadodara and Chota Udaipur. And before that, he managed a quick trip to Jamnagar. On Thursday, he was with workers of Surat and Tapi district.
But what are these workers expected to do? HT met the heads of shakti kendras, booth committees, and electoral roll (panna) presidents in Surat’s Majaura constituency to understand the mechanics of Shah’s work from the ground up.
MACHINE ON GROUND
At Parle Point, Gujarat’s youngest MLA in the last assembly, the 32-year-old Harsh Sanghavi, has set up his campaign office. To offset any anti incumbency, a robust organisation is at work.
A group of men sit around in a large room. Majura has 2,43,000 voters; 243 booths; and 67 shakti kendras. The party also has 5,834 page presidents.
Mukhesh Pujara, a ward president, explains their role. “A panna pramukh usually has 47 or 48 people on his roll. They basically have to get the voters out on polling day. The pramukh is from the same area and knows most people.” While they had a system like this in earlier elections too, this time around, the page presidents have been appointed a lot earlier, and they are in regular contact.
These pramukhs report to booth committees. Depending on the size of the booth, the party has a 13, 18, or 25 member committee for each of the 243 booths — with women, SC, ST and OBC representatives. “These committees are not born just for elections. The booth committee organises festivals, celebrates party’s anniversaries, birthdays of our leaders. So this is a vibrant unit,” he added.
And a few of these booth committees then constitute a shakti kendra. They play a monitoring role. They also have social media in charge of each shakti kendra. “We have WhatsApp groups at each level, and for different social groups,” says Himanshu Raulji, a shakti kendra in-charge.
Party volunteers, called vistaraks, as a part of a special campaign, have already visited each booth twice- they are from another area so that their assessment is objective. Pujara says, “I went to another ward in May-June to understand their sentiments, and then I went back in October and gave my report accordingly.” What was the difference? He candidly admits, “Earlier, GST was not an issue. In October, some voters told us they were for the party but had problems with the process. We conveyed this feedback and as rules have got simplified, the mood has become more positive.”
Another party worker adds that the difference in this campaign is the focus on mass contact.
“There is a false narrative to create negative sentiment. The only way to counter it is through consistent contact. That is what Amit bhai has told us.”
CALL CENTRE AT WORK
Next to the meeting hall, a call centre is at work.
Paresh, a volunteer, says, “I call up a number, and verify if it is the right person. I introduce myself as a BJP worker, ask if they have their voter ID and Aadhaar. I then ask them to support BJP.” By the end of the campaign, each voter of Majura would have received close to five calls from the centre.
Another volunteer adds, “Sometimes, they complain. One voter said he was very harassed because of GST. I convey that to leaders.”
The party has collected this rich data of numbers - through the primary membership drive initiated by Amit Shah; through an independent agency; and online data mining.
It is this machine that Amit Shah is quietly strengthening, as the state BJP waits for Prime Minister Narendra Modi to begin his final offensive before the December assembly polls.