Shah protégé emerges as ‘invisible’ man behind BJP’s UP election battle
LUCKNOW: He operates out of a room on the first floor of the BJP office in Lucknow.
It is a spacious accommodation, complete with an iPad lying on the bed, a TV screen flashing live images of a rally being held by party president Amit Shah and a map outlining the next phase of the UP polls.
Phone calls are made constantly as he instructs senior leaders to focus on the assembly segments of their constituencies. “I don’t want you to be in sabhas. I want you to help the candidate fight the election. We are lagging by 2% in this seat. Focus on that.”
Amit Shah became Amit Shah by successfully managing the UP elections in 2014. Three years later, there is another man who is silently doing the invisible organisational work that Shah was entrusted with
BANSAL, WHO?
Bansal was an activist of the ABVP – the RSS’ student outfit – in Rajasthan before rising up to become its national joint organising secretary. It was then that Shah picked him up to work on the 2014 UP elections.
Bansal shifted to Lucknow and became Shah’s right-hand man. He learnt from Shah the importance of organisational activities n that would keep the party cadre connected with the people. After the 2014 win, Shah rose up to become party president. However, keeping an eye on the 2017 elections, he left Bansal back in Lucknow as BJP’s state-level general secretary .
PLANNING FOR ‘17
BJP made two major decisions on the party’s broad strategy and organisation in the run-up to the polls. The strategy was to focus on the upper castes, non-Yadav OBCs and non-Jatav Dalits, who comprise 55-60% of its population.
Bansal had to implement this on the ground, and change the party’s character in the process, by appointing OBC district chiefs and picking up a large share of candidates from this segment of the society. The move came generated internal resentment.
However, sources close to Bansal shrugged it off – stating that such a backlash was only natural in the circumstances. “We had dozens of aspirants for each seat...We made a conscious attempt to expand our social base, which may have upset some people,” said a party member.
The second decision was to energise the organisation early. So, at a time when the SP was embroiled in an internal struggle and the BSP remained in a state of virtual invisibility, the BJP had already begun raising the battle cry. “The idea behind this was to increase the visibility of the party,” said a party source.
The party held numerous state, regional and sector-level meetings with booth workers. And, to prepare candidates for the elections, it gave each of them micro village and family level data compiled through phone calls and voter surveys.
CERTAIN OF VICTORY
At present, Bansal’s core tasks include monitoring the prospects of the party in each constituency based on surveys and planning the rest of the campaign. The party claims it will make it past the majority mark.
“As much as 83% of the upper castes, 73% non-Yadav OBCs, 25% Jatavs and 50% non-Jatavs are voting for us,” a source close to Bansal said.
The BJPbelieves thatasplitin the Muslim vote bank would also help them. “They are not voting to elect the government. They are voting to elect MLAs. It would have been difficult for us if they were voting unitedly,” the source added.
Only on March 11 will we know if the BJP’s assessments are correct. However, one thing remains certain – if the BJP wins, it would have found yet another organisational star in Bansal.