Modi, Shah set to take stock with 14 BJP CMs

ASSESSMENT The CMs of BJPruled states have been asked to present the status of implementation of central schemes targeted at the poor

NEWDELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP president Amit Shah have invited chief ministers of states ruled by the saffron party to the capital on Wednesday to discuss, among other things, the possibility of holding simultaneous polls to the Lok Sabha and state assemblies.

The two leaders will also take stock of the welfare measures that BJP governments have taken and if they achieved targets in execution of central programmes such as crop insurance schemes, loans for young entrepreneurs, increasing digital transactions, and building affordable housing.

Modi will complete four years in power in May, and face general election to the Lok Sabha next year. In recent months, his government has come in for criticism over its inability to create jobs, falling farm income, and, in Union Budget 2018, increasing the tax outgo for the middle class.

The party has started preparing early for the national election and hopes to repeat its 2014 performance (when it won 282 seats) in most of the states. The BJP today rules 14 states on its own and five more with its allies. The deputy chief minister or senior ministers will represent alliance governments at tomorrow’s meeting.

Prime Minister Modi’s 2019 bid will depend on how the BJP performs in these states, most of which it has won after the dream run of 2014. Here is a look at how the chief ministers of BJP ruled states –crucial to Modi’s 2019 plan – are placed at the moment.