With the announcement of Lok Sabha polls expected any time next month, the Bengal BJP is moving ahead to set its house in order after a prod from Amit Shah and BJP president Jagat Prakash Nadda. While the Central leaders, in their meeting with the state’s top leaders on Wednesday, had stressed on the need to put up a united and cohesive fight, they had also made it clear that nobody who tried to rock the boat would be tolerated, sources present in the meeting said, pointing to the sacking of national secretary Anupam Hazra within minutes of the meeting ending.
At that meeting, Bengal leaders had reiterated how Hazra’s intemperate comments were embarrassing the party. It is also keeping an eye on factionalism in the party. Over the past three months, supporters have staged demonstrations outside BJP offices to protest biased appointments, which, they alleged, were made against “monetary considerations”.
Bengal BJP leaders also met B L Santhosh, national general secretary (organisation), in Kolkata. “We had a scheduled state office-bearers’ meeting. There will be a meeting of district office-bearers too,” Bengal BJP president Sukanta Majumdar said.
Five posts in the state committee are currently vacant and Bengal BJP is likely to nominate office-bearers soon. “We can expect some changes at the state and district level,” said a leader on condition of anonymity.
The BJP is also laying great stress on building up its strength on the ground.
From January 3, Bengal BJP leaders will launch a week-long “Booth Sashaktikaran Abhiyan”. So far, the party has volunteers to man at least 58,000 booths, sources said, even though there are about 70,000 booths in the State. Data collection for each booth will be completed by January 25, they said.
The party is also rolling out the Viksit Bharat Sankalp Yatra till January 25, during which aims to disseminate information about the Narendra Modi Government’s flagship schemes and ensure their benefits reach every corner of the country.
The party is also strategizing how to leverage the services of the private firm Jarvis Technology and Strategy Consulting Private Limited which has been brought in to help the party reach potential voters across the country.
Plans are being chalked out to set up dedicated call centres which will disseminate information to the beneficiaries of the Central government’s welfare schemes and to amplify the BJP’s campaign messaging.
BJP general secretary Sunil Bansal, who has been named as one of the five Central leaders along with Amit Shah and JP Nadda, who will supervise the Bengal poll campaign, is in overall charge of the party’s outreach programme using technology and call centres.
Using call centres to reach out to beneficiaries of the Central government’s welfare schemes and to amplify the BJP’s campaign messaging is not a new tactic; the party had deployed 190 call centres employing 13,000 workers in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.
“This time around, the BJP is planning to set up more than 225 call centres in nearly all the States of the country, and employing nearly 20,000 people to work 24 hours in shifts,” a senior leader said.
