After the Election Commission announced a one-phase election for Gujarat, with April 23 to be the date of polling, the state unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has begun its poll preparations in earnest. Its 'Mission Special 26' will start with candidate selection, and the party is concerned about the individual image of all aspirants.

COMMERCIAL BREAK
SCROLL TO CONTINUE READING

Top brass, including Chief Minister Vijay Rupani and party's state-in charge Om Mathur, met on Sunday at the Shri Kamalam headquarters. The party will now host screening exercises to decide on its candidates.

"It's generally said that regardless of who BJP fields from Gujarat, it can win using the Modi name. But this time, the party is thinking differently. The political equation has changed, and many factors have to be considered while selecting candidates," said a senior leader who was present at the meeting.

"There are many sitting MPs who failed to serve the expectations of the party and their constituencies. These MPs will see the exit doors. Leaders who have a good impression among the masses will get tickets. The screening process will start from next week," he added.

Party leaders also conducted a review of organisation-related programmes, which concluded with the 'Mera Booth Sabse Mazboot' outreach initiative, and concluded that these programmes had failed to make a good impact.

"The results of the programmes were not at par with our expectations from them. We need to reorganise and restrategise our outreach programmes, and need to mobilise our workers. We have also observed that many of our workers remained idle, and they need to be pushed into the field and approach the voters directly," he further added.

While the candidate selection process is underway, aspirants also have to submit their biodata. Observers will then visit these territories and meet office bearers at the district and taluka levels, to review the condition of the seats.