Amit Shah revs up 'Ajey BJP' in top 10 states

Jolted by the set-backs in Assembly elections and jittery allies, Amit Shah, the architect of BJP's poll strategy, has gone back to the drawing board to redraft the 'Ajey BJP' campaign that the party launched at its national executive meet in September this year.

On a whirlwind tour of various states, Shah's task is to rev up the party's gigantic poll machinery to increase BJP's vote share by regaining party's goodwill among voters. Shah will finalise strategy after speaking to key people in every state.

Sources say each state will have a tailor-made strategy, the final blueprint of which will emerge at party's national executive meet to be held next month.

The priority states are Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, West Bengal, Karnataka, Bihar, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Haryana, which won the lion's share of seats for the BJP in 2014.

In Maharashtra, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis charted out a road map for 2019 Lok Sabha and Assembly elections on Thursday, a day after a lengthy interaction with Shah. He asked MPs and legislators to forge ahead, regardless of any alliance with current partner Shiv Sena.

"Fadnavis has asked all party lawmakers to chase a vote margin of two crore between BJP and other parties," a four-term party legislator told DNA. "This is crucial as Maharashtra has 48 MP seats. An improvement in tally will help meet Shah's target of 300 plus seats."

In last Lok Sabha elections, BJP won 23 seats with 1.33 crore votes and a 27.6 per cent share. In the state election, it had bagged 122 seats with 1.47 crore votes and 28.1 per cent share.

Fadnavis target is to convert at least 50 lakh more citizens into BJP voters. The ongoing CM's Trophy tournaments, held in 36 districts, have provided opportunities for this.

In Uttar Pradesh, to counter opposition alliance, the BJP has set a target of winning 51 per cent votes in every booth. It is also expected to deny tickets to MPS that have performed badly – a number that can go up to 25.

"The party will inform the people about the developmental works done by the Modi government at the Centre and the Yogi government in the state," says Manish Shukla, BJP spokesperson in UP. Karyakartas have been told to undertake a realistic assessment of how many central and state development schemes have reached beneficiaries. The party undertook the Kamal Sandesh Padyatra from December 1 to 15 across 65,000 villages to this effect.

"Development and good governance will be the pillars on the basis of which it will seek voter support," says Shukla.

In Rajasthan, a bruised BJP will strengthen booths, Shakti Kendra units and make the Vistarak model more effective. Party sources told DNA that sweeping changes are expected in the organization and heads will roll in district units where the party fared badly.

The party's national leadership has instructed top state functionaries to review the performance of each of the 41 Mandals (organisational districts) and asses the reasons why the party got only 73 seats, as compared to 163 in the previous Assembly elections.

"We have been directed to organise district-wise review meetings on December 22 and 23 across the state to pin down the reasons for defeat in the Assembly elections," an official said.

Party's secretary and vice-president have been put in charge reviewing the performance of each district. There will be a one-day review meeting in each district on December 22 or 23 in which present and past lawmakers, representatives from Panchayati Raj and urban local bodies, office bearers of district units and senior party workers will participate.