BJP poll panel discusses preparations in Madhya Pradesh, leaders told to focus on weak areas
Aug 16, 2023
New Delhi [India], August 16 : BJP’s Central Election Committee (CEC) on Wednesday discussed poll preparations in Madhya Pradesh and the impact of various welfare schemes of the party’s governments in the state and at the Centre.
Sources said Prime Minister Narendra Modi asked state party leaders to focus on “weak seats” and continue dialogue with people through various programmes.
They said all state leaders were told to work unitedly to get the best results. The meeting related to Madhya Pradesh lasted for about one-and-a-half hours.
The sources said that the meeting discussed ways to maximise the impact of government schemes.
They said weak seats in Madhya Pradesh were discussed and BJP's internal survey for the state also came up for discussion.
Five states – Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Telangana and Mizoram - will go to the polls by the end of this year. BJP is in power in Madhya Pradesh and the election is likely to be fought with Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan being a face of the party’s campaign led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The CEC also discussed preparations in poll-bound Chhattisgarh. Of 90 seats in the state, the CEC discussed the panel of candidates on 27 seats, the sources said, adding that the party has categorised seats into four categories - A, B, C, D – for better planning in its electoral effort.
They said that classification will help give sharper focus to seats that the party considers weak.
While ‘A’ category seats are those which BJP has won every time in the past polls, the ‘B’ category has seats the party has had mixed results in terms of win and loss, the sources said.
The ‘C’ category has seats where BJP is weak while the ‘D’ category comprises those constituencies which BJP has never won, they said.
The discussion on Tuesday was held on 22 seats in the ‘B’ and ‘C’ categories and five in the ‘D’, sources told ANI.
They said that party may field new faces on about 50 per cent of the seats in the state which is ruled by Congress.
The meeting was held at BJP headquarters discussions related to Chhattisgarh lasted for about two hours.
Apart from PM Modi, BJP chief JP Nadda, Chhattisgarh election in charge Om Prakash Mathur, co-incharge Mansukh Mandviya and former Chief Minister Raman Singh were among leaders who attended the meeting.
Other members of CEC including Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Home Minister Amit Shah and Chhattisgarh BJP chief Arun Sao were also present.
Sources said that discussions were mainly focused on weak seats and the meeting also discussed campaign strategy.
They said the state leadership gave feedback on the work being done at the grassroots including on reaching out to people about the welfare schemes of BJP-led central government.
The meeting first discussed Chhattisgarh followed by discussions on Madhya Pradesh.
Shivraj Singh Chouhan, state BJP president VD Sharma and other prominent leaders were also present.