CHANDIGARH: The Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) has planned to go solo in the upcoming Punjab assembly elections, contesting all 117 assembly seats.
The decision was made at the first brainstorming meeting with the state party leaders which was headed by Union Home Minister Amit Shah, BJP national president Nitin Nabin and party’s National general secretary B L Santhosh, last night in Delhi on the election strategy.
Shah also reportedly told the state party leadership to work hard on the ground to "win the hearts of people and disseminate the party's narrative across the state."
Issues such as drug menace, law and order, religious conversions, soil health depletion and the alleged misgovernance of the Aam Aadmi Party government figured prominently in the meeting besides depleting the fiscal health of the state.
In order to win the trust of the public of the state, Shah reportedly gave an example of how the BJP had fixed the economy and law and order challenges in every state it has governed, from Gujarat to Uttar Pradesh and now West Bengal. Sources said the agenda included an analysis of the political climate, organisational strength, and the current situation in the state.
During the meeting, it was also decided that the BJP would focus on strengthening its organisational structure down to the booth level in Punjab.
In line with this strategy, Punjab BJP President Kewal Singh Dhillon said that in the meeting discussions were held about political scenarios of the state in a healthy atmosphere. "We will be fighting on all the 117 seats in Punjab. The meeting was about party strategy for the upcoming assembly elections and there was collective discussion on that."
He added that Nabin would visit Punjab from June 20 to 22. This statement indicates that the likelihood of a coalition between the BJP and the Shiromani Akali Dal has significantly diminished.
Before meeting the state leaders yesterday, Amit Shah had met with Punjab Governor Ghulab Chand Kataria and discussed the Punjab ground situation and challenges.
The leaders of the state which took part in the meeting were Punjab BJP president Kewal Dhillon, former state presidents Sunil Jakhar, Ashwani Sharma, Avinash Rai Khanna, Shwait Malik, union minister Ravneet Singh Bittu, former Punjab ministers Manoranjan Kalia and Manpreet Badal, BJP national general secretary and Rajya Sabha MP Tarun Chugh, parliamentary board member Iqbal Singh Lalpura, former MLA Fateh Singh Bajwa, state BJP general secretaries Parminder Brar and Anil Sarin and state women's wing president Jai Inder Kaur daughter of former CM Capt Amarinder Singh.
