As preparations for the upcoming assembly elections in five states gather pace, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) cadre is pulling out all the stops for Telangana’s local body elections and the newly reconstituted Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA), people aware of the details said.
BJP workers celebrate the party’s leadership in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections at the party office in Lucknow. (ANI)Senior BJP leaders said that while the party has contested every election “from panchayat to parliament” with equal fervor, a recent directive from the party high command reiterated the message of redoubled efforts to win local body elections, paving the way for success in assembly contests.
“Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently (while addressing the NDA parliamentary party meeting on February 3) stressed the need to avoid complacency and said that for the growth and stability of the party, cadres should work hard for local body elections as well as for state and parliamentary elections,” said a Delhi BJP leader on condition of anonymity.
With local body elections in Telangana on February 11, the state party unit has put more boots on the ground. “We are campaigning hard, there are many issues of public concern and security which the state government has ignored and we want to ensure that governance is strengthened at the lowest level… and today we are comfortably set for a positive result,” said a Telangana BJP leader, on condition of anonymity.
Although there were reports of rebels mounting a challenge, state leaders insisted that the BJP was confident of winning the mayoral seat in Mahbubnagar.
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Similar efforts are underway in Karnataka, where the Greater Bangalore Authority (GBA) elections will be held in May.
The party has already appointed its former national general secretary Ram Madhav as the chief election in-charge.
“Apart from Ram Madhav, the party fielded former Rajasthan unit president Satish Punia and Sanjay Upadhyay (MLA from Maharashtra) for the polls, which itself is an indication that the party is contesting the polls as seriously as the assembly polls,” said the first BJP leader quoted above.
The leader said that Maharashtra has set the template for the party’s recent victory in local body elections, and the high command wants similar results in other states.
