Shah to chair 20 meets with party workers in Jharkhand
BJP president Amit Shah will chair at least 20 meetings with party workers, office bearers and leaders at different levels in Jharkhand during his threeday visit starting on September 15, senior office bearers from the BJP’s state headquarters in Ranchi said on Friday.
BJP’s state media in-charge Shivpujan Pathak told HT Shah was likely to celebrate PM Narendra Modi’s birthday in the state on September 17. “He is likely to visit Birsa Munda’s village Ulihatu on September 17 and flag off a beautification drive. But the final schedule of his programme is not yet prepared,” said Pathak.
Shah will also hold meetings at block and panchayat levels. The primary objective behind his visit is to review the status of BJP’s different drives and preparedness for the 2019 elections, party insiders said. The ruling BJP in the state has already started mobilising its workers for the 2019 assembly polls and general elections.
Chief minister Raghubar Das too has been addressing party workers and encouraging them to start working for the elections.
The BJP, according to Das, has set a target of winning at least 60 of the 81 assembly seats and all the 14 Lok Sabha seats in the 2019 polls. Since a majority of polling booths fall in rural areas, it was must for BJP to start campaigning there in advance to ensure sufficient support during the polls, party sources said.
The party was also likely to launch membership drives in rural areas soon, they added.
Political experts are of the opinion the BJP will have to put in extra efforts to win the support of voters in the rural areas as the party may have lost considerable support over its efforts to amend tribal land laws. The Chotanagpur Tenancy Act and the Santhal Pargana Tenancy Act, which the BJP wanted to amend are considered the custodian of tribal lands.
“The BJP is aware of the backlash in the interiors of the state over a few of their decisions. Be it for demonetisation, tribal land law amendments, domicile policy or industrialisation efforts, the party sees it has lost a considerable rural vote bank,” said political expert VP Sharan.
The medical examination of rape victims is not conducted in consonance with guidelines set by the health ministry, a study has claimed while calling for proper training of personnel for carrying out such exams.
The study was conducted by an NGO ‘Partners For Law in Development’ with support from the department of justice, ministry of law and justice and UNDP (United Nations Development Programme). The study also found some victims experienced obstacles and harassment from the police in registering FIRs.
“A copy of the FIR is not immediately available, but is dispatched later to the victims. Often, victims have to keep following up to obtain a copy,” said the report. It recommended only those garments that were connected with the crime must be taken for purposes of forensic examination. PTI