The BJP is roping in its senior leaders and ministers to visit several of these constituencies, where it has never won before but is hoping to capture in the next Lok Sabha elections.
Around seven months after BJP chief Amit Shah and his team identified around 115 seats as "new catchment areas", with an eye on 2019 general elections, the party is focusing on them during a week-long drive next month.
The BJP is roping in its senior leaders and ministers to visit several of these constituencies, where it has never won before but is hoping to capture in the next Lok Sabha elections. The seats fall in around seven states, mostly in the south, east, and the northeast.
From April 6, the BJP's foundation day, to April 14, BR Ambedkar's birth anniversary, the leaders will fan out to various states and hold public events there. While Shah will be in Hyderabad, Union ministers Rajnath Singh, Arun Jaitley and Nitin Gadkari will be in Kolkata, Bengaluru (Rural) and Nizamabad. Among the other Union ministers, JP Nadda will be in Thrissur, Kerala, Smriti Irani in Amethi and VK Singh in Rae Bareli. While West Bengal, Kerala and Telangana are among the target states, Rae Bareli and Amethi have been Congress strongholds. Similarly, party leaders will be travelling to strongholds of other parties like the Samajwadi Party in UP, which has recently suffered a debacle at the hands of the BJP.
The other states where the seats fall are Odisha, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. The BJP, after increasing its tally eight times in the panchayat polls in Odisha, is holding its next national executive in Bhubaneswar.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had told party MPs a fortnight ago that April 6 and 14 were two big days in programmes on BJP's calendar for next month. He has also been emphasising on the need to create awareness among the people about government's policies and legislations, particularly the welfare schemes for the poor, and underlining the importance of social media.
Besides ministers, BJP MPs will also visit seats where the party had lost, as part of the leadership's strategy to expand the footprint ahead of 2019. Shah had asked all the state units to draw up a plan.
The BJP's performance peaked with 100 per cent results in 2014 in Rajasthan, Gujarat, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh and Delhi, while it swept UP, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand. While the party would strive to retain its hold over seats it has won, its strategy was aimed at making gains in other places to make up for any possible losses, sources said.
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
 "Amit Shah")
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}