PM sets targets for BJP MPs to get 2019 ticket

Social media tops Modi’s agenda for general elections

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s drive for social media has not diminished despite the worldwide political storm on Facebook data leak as topping the list of criteria he set for the BJP MPs to get the ticket for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections at a closeddoor dinner meeting in the BJP headquarters here Friday night is to have at least three lakh followers each on the social media and that too real and not fake.

If they can’t connect with this many people, they do not have enough support base to be renominated, even as the MPs were given a presentation about the Narendra Modi app before the PM reached the venue. They were told th learn how to use the app and use it to reach out not only the beneficiaries of the government schemes but also the voters to let them know how much the government has done for the people.

The app details of the government schemes and their impact as well and these should be conveyed to the voters to know all these schemes are making great success.

Asking the MPs to identify the slums (basti) in their constituencies, Modi wanted the MPs to stay for a night in these localities at least once in a month to establish direct contact. He also asked them to provide a listed of 2,000 dedicated cadre in each constituency for use in the elections. He also wanted the party to double the presence of its booth workers as the coming election is not going to be an easy one.

BJP President Amit Shah, who delivered almost an hour-long lecture to the MPs before the PM’s arrival, unveiled a 24-day long pre-poll schedule for the MPs to organise various programmes in their constituencies from April 11 to May 5, with a special programme on the Ambedkar Jayanti on April 14 to mark four years of the Modi government.

The schedule starts with celebration of the birth anniversary of social reformer Jyotirao Phule on April 11, followed by celebration of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan on April 18, the Ujjwala scheme on April 20, the Panchayati Raj Diwas on April 24, Gram Swabhimaan Diwas on April 28, Swastha Bharat Diwas on April 30, Kisan Kalyan Diwas on May 2 and a grand celebration of all on May 5.