BJP finetunes caste math Shah to address young voters, take questions
RELOOK Following high command order to scout for more names on seats with single panel names, core committee discusses fresh report JAIPUR: JAIPUR: The event will have oneway and twoway sessions. Under the oneway session, party president Amit Shah will address the youth. Thereafter, if the young audience has any questions, they can ask them live and the party president will answer them ASHOK SAINI, BJYM state president
Facing a tough poll battle in Rajasthan, the BJP is revisiting the ground situation and analysing caste equations, so as to field candidates who have the highest chances of winning on the 200 assembly seats in the state.
Party sources said the high command had tasked 23 senior leaders to conduct a fresh ground level survey and study the caste equation and other factors prevailing in each constituency. The leaders were also asked to scout for more names on some seats where single panel names had been decided.
Following the high command’s order, the senior leaders visited the constituencies and interacted with the party workers and leaders of castes to take feedback about the aspirants. They have submitted the report to the BJP’s core committee.
In a meeting on Monday, the core committee leaders discussed the report with details about the names, caste equations and challenges prevailing in various constituencies. These fresh lists will be forwarded to the party high command and discussed in the parliamentary board, which will meet on November 10 or 11 to finalise names.
Chief minister Vasundhara Raje, party president Madanlal Saini, Union ministers Arjun Ram Meghwal, CR Chaudhary and Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, state ministers Gulab Chand Kataria, Arun Chaturvedi and Rajendra Rathore were present.
After the meeting, Saini said names of candidates that were received in the feedback by the 23 leaders were discussed in the meeting. He said the final names would be decided by the parliamentary board.
Even as the leaders were meeting in a city hotel, some groups of BJP workers staged a protest against the probable candidates. BJP workers from Bagru protested against the party ticket to MLA Kailash Verma, while the party workers from Amer were against Satish Poonia.
Commenting on the protests, Saini said, “In a democracy all have a right to protest in a peaceful manner and their rightful demands would be looked into.”
Commenting on the BJP’s core committee meeting, Congress spokesperson Archana Sharma said the BJP is a divided house, they are unable to find consensus on candidates.
Earlier, senior BJP leaders after several rounds of talks and feedbacks in Rajasthan had gone to Delhi with single panel names on about 70 seats and panels of three or more names on the remaining 130 seats. However, BJP national president Amit Shah expressed displeasure on the single panel names and asked the leaders to revisit the constituencies and do a detailed analysis and give panels of at least three names on all seats.
He had told the state leaders that the list did not reflect the situation on the ground and the proposed names did not match with those in the party’s survey report. He also said that several sitting MLAs and ministers need to be axed for the poll victory.
BJP president Amit Shah will address young voters in Rajasthan through videoconferencing at an event to be organised by the party’s youth wing, Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM).
The ‘Yuva Town Hall’ event will be held in every constituency and Shah will address live more than 5 lakh youths across the state, followed by a questionanswer session.
BJYM state president Ashok Saini said, “The event will have one-way and two-way sessions. Under the one-way session, party president Amit Shah will address the youth. Thereafter, if the young audience has any questions, they can ask them live and the party president will answer them.”
Saini said videoconferencing spots will be set up in every constituency and almost 1000 young voters will be gathered at each. “Although the date for the event has not been decided, meetings for the arrangements will be held after Diwali,” said Saini.
Congress spokesperson Satyendra Singh Raghav said the youth understands the present government and will not be influenced by such events. “Only because election is round the corner, the BJP wants to start talking to the youth,” said Raghav. “Youth of Rajasthan has been protesting on roads for the past five years. The state of education and employment in the state has deteriorated. The government was nowhere to be seen in the past five years.”
Assembly elections will be held in the state on December 7. BJYM’s two other events, ‘Kamal Sandesh Bike Rally’ and ‘Nav Matdaata Abhinandan Smaroh’, are going on.
Under ‘Nav Matdaata Abhinandan Samaroh’, first- time voters, who have recently turned 18, are being felicitated. “Since April this year, more than 150 constituencies have been covered under ‘Nav Mattdaata Abhinandan Smaroh’. We motivated more than 1 lakh eligible youth to get their voter IDs made. We are targeting more than 50 lakh new voters for the upcoming elections. We are felicitating the first-time voters,” said Saini.
Saini said BJYM has been playing a significant role in BJP’s ‘Booth Mahasampark Abhiyan’. “Prominent BJP leaders from every constituency are preparing a list of 10 beneficiaries near every booth. Thereafter, the leaders visit the homes of these beneficiaries and take an account of how the government policies have benefitted them,” said Saini.