Shah blows 2019 bugle, asks party to address Dalit issues
NEW DELHI: BJP president Amit Shah has blown the bugle for the 2019 election, targeting to win the next parliamentary election with a margin bigger than 2014, party spokesman Syed Shahnawaz Hussain said on Monday. And, for the BJP’s national office bearers and state presidents who met with him on Monday, he even had a slogan: Meri sarkar, achchi sarkar (my government, good government) slogan, Hussain said. “We have to change this perception that BJP cannot return to power at the Centre. We have to prove that BJP knows how to form government, run it and win consecutive election,” Hussain quoted Shah as telling BJP leaders.
During the meeting, which came two days after the bitterly fought Karnataka assembly elections (and a day ahead of results), Shah also asked the party to address issues related to Dalits, down to the block level, another BJP leader said on condition of anonymity. RSS pracharaks holding the posts of organisational secretaries at state level were also present at the day-long conclave.
The BJP president, widely credited, along with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the party’s star campaigner, for the success the BJP has seen over the past four years also warned the audience against arrogance, complacence, and lack of attention to the party organisation. “Congress got wiped out because of its arro- gance and ignoring the organisa- tion. We have reached a situation where it has become a BJP versus all battle.”
BJP spokesman Sudhanshu Trivedi said Shah “cautioned BJP leaders that satisfaction over electoral success should not converge into self complacency.”
“We have built the first floor by winning one election, 2019 victory will be the second floor. We have to raise a high building,” he quoted the party president as saying.
Shah told the audience that the BJP has over 110 million members, 330-plus MPs and over 1,800 MLAs, a feat that has been achieved because of party’s organisational strength that many other political parties were now copying. “It is our privilege that we have Modi’s leadership, but we have organisational strength too. We have strength at the booth level and we are winning because of it,” Hussain said, quoting Shah.
The BJP chief told party leaders they should not rest until states such as West Bengal, Odisha, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and Telanagana were won.
Shah took stock of the preparation for construction of party offices in district levels, the number of nights spent by central ministers and party office bearers in villages during the Gram Swaraj Abhiyan programme between April and May, discussed ways to popularise the NaMo App, and sought suggestions for Modi government’s fourth anniversary celebrations.
The party will hold a joint executive meeting of its different wings on May 17 that will be addressed by the Prime Minister.