The BJP is hoping for early corrective steps in South India in the backdrop of the recent election defeat in Karnataka. (PTI/FILE)
With the Lok Sabha elections 2024 the top focus, sources in the know of developments told News18 that the southern generals of the BJP have been given a four-point mantra by the top leadership.
BJP president JP Nadda on Sunday chaired a day-long meeting of southern party leaders in the presence of general secretary (organisation) BL Santosh and general secretaries Tarun Chugh and Sunil Bansal and the topic of discussion was how to reverse the declining electoral fortunes. party in the southern states.
With the Lok Sabha elections 2024 the top focus, sources in the know of developments told News18 that the southern generals of the BJP have been given a four-point mantra by the top leadership.
“Four important focus areas have been identified by the party. First, there is a need to focus on reaching out to castes and communities that have little or no representation in the BJP. Second, to identify strong non-BJP leaders who may be unhappy with the policies of the party they currently belong to and assure them that the Narendra Modi government believes in working for all. Third, the pros and cons of any state-related alliance need to be considered. Ultimately, the focus should be on identifying issues that are specifically related to the state and bring them to the fore,” a source told News18.
A major focus of the saffron party in the coming days and weeks will be to forcefully tell its story despite the popularity of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in whose name the party is contesting the election.
“There is an urgent and vital need for the BJP to clarify its story and tell it clearly. Be it general elections or assembly elections, the party needs to speak clearly in one voice about principles and commitments towards the interests of the nation,” another source told News18 after Sunday’s meeting.
With nearly six months left for campaigning for the Lok Sabha polls to begin in full swing, party units in the southern states have been asked to come up with a well-thought-out action plan that can be well executed.
Booth strengthening campaign, micro-level management and membership drive in other states of the country have done wonders for the party. But despite winning a majority in the Lok Sabha in 2014 and 2019, electoral success in the southern states has eluded the BJP.
The party is now hoping to take corrective steps at the earliest in the backdrop of the recent election debacle in Karnataka.
Politics in South India has largely been personality-driven – from Jayalalithaa and Karunanidhi in Tamil Nadu to KCR in Telangana, and Chandrababu Naidu and Jagan Mohan Reddy in Andhra Pradesh.
Of the 130 MPs from the five southern states, the BJP has only 29, most of them from Karnataka.
“Three Front Prominent – Tejasvi Surya (Yuva Morcha), Vanathi Srinivasan (Women Morcha) and K Laxman (OBC Morcha) are from the South. Even four ministers in the central government – Nirmala Sitharaman, S Jaishankar, Pralhad Joshi and Kishan Reddy – are from the South. The Modi cabinet also has six ministers of state from south India,” a BJP insider said, adding that Sunday’s meeting passed instructions to show representation among the people.
Attendees were also asked to highlight the fact that even in the party’s highest decision-making body, southern representation is sizable. BS Yediyurappa and BL Santhosh are both members of the BJP Parliamentary Board.
The party’s top leadership has expressed confidence of improving its performance in the south with prospects of alliance with TDP in Andhra Pradesh and strengthening alliance with AIADMK in Tamil Nadu.
The party held state leaders’ meetings in three batches and the last meeting was held in Hyderabad on Sunday. Leaders of 11 states and union territories including Karnataka, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu Telangana, Goa, Maharashtra and Puducherry were present in the meeting.
A meeting was held in Guwahati for the eastern and north-eastern states on 7 July and in Delhi for the northern and central states on 8 July.
The party is likely to organize a brainstorming session of all the state presidents in the end of July or in the first week of August.