New Delhi: In lines with the plan of expansion of the party base, BJP chief Amit Shah will begin his campaign from polling booth number three in Naxalbari in West Bengal. Union Minister Smriti Irani said that the BJP chief will camp at the polling booth in solidarity with party workers who have withstood the “violence unleashed by the Left”.
“Naxalbari has a history of Left violence. The BJP workers there have lived through the violence unleashed by the Left. The BJP chief will begin his focussed campaign in states from the polling booth number three in Naxalbari in West Bengal,” Irani told reporters on Monday.
The Union Minister said that the BJP chief will spend three days each in West Bengal, Odisha, Telangana, Lakshadweep and that he will also go to Kerala and Tamil Nadu. She stated that six states have been identified by the party as focus areas for expansion of the party base as part of the “Deen Dayal Vistar Karyakram”. She stated that the BJP chief will interact with the booth level workers of the party, besides striking dialogue with local intellectuals, social workers and people who may not be associated with the saffron outfit.
The minister also stated that 3.68 lakh party workers have offered to give their full time for 15 days, while responding to a call from Prime Minister Narendra Modi made during the national executive meet of the BJP in the national capital in January this year. “These workers will spend time at the polling booth levels and spread the ideology of the party ideologue Deen Dayal Upadhyay and achievements of the NDA government at the Centre. The workers will also solicit feedback on various schemes and programmes of the Central government,” she added. The minister also stated that 4000 party workers have offered to give full-time for six to 12 months to work at the polling booth levels.
Taking a potshot at the Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi, Irani said that the difference between the two parties lies in the fact that the BJP chief would be going to the polling booths unlike the Lok Sabha MP from Amethi who is missing in action.
Meanwhile, the BJP informed that the Prime Minister asked all the 13 chief ministers of the BJP ruled states to focus in reaching the benefits of development to the poor. The BJP chief asked the chief ministers to give high priority to execution of the Centrally sponsored schemes.