AHMEDABAD: The Gujarat state BJP president CR Patil on Thursday addressed 40,000 party workers as part of an exercise to strengthen the saffron outfit ahead of the upcoming state Assembly polls.
To stay in line with Covid protocols, this interaction was held virtually as workers gathered simultaneously at 579 places across the state. This is the first time in the country that a political party will hold over 500 physical meetings at the same time across the state, the state BJP's media coordinator Yagnesh Dave said.
Patil said: "Prime Minister Narendra Modi will interact with BJP workers in Gujarat virtually on January 25. During the interaction, the PM would provide guidance to BJP workers across the state. After finishing the registration process through the NaMo app, the selected workers will get the link to join the interaction," said Patil.
The Assembly polls in Gujarat are expected to be held in December this year.
The BJP has divided its organisation in Gujarat into 579 blocks or Mandals, at taluka or town level. “In view of the Covid pandemic and guidelines issued by the government, only 50 to 100 party workers attended each of these 579 meetings.
Patil came up with this unique idea of holding meetings simultaneously so that all Mandals get covered,” Dave said. For the last two and half decades, BJP has been practicing a formula in which 10 youths are assigned to each poll booth -- one to stay at the booth while the rest go out into the field to bring maximum voters out to vote to ensure that the party gets a
lion’s share of votes. Given that there are 50,000 polling booths in the state for 182 Assembly seats, the BJP will need a minimum of 50,000 polling agents if it is to contest all 182 seats.
The purpose of these meetings is to strengthen page and booth committees ahead of the polls and to guide the ground-level workers about pro-people schemes floated by the BJP government in Gujarat and at the Centre, he said. “Nearly 40,000 to 50,000 workers attended these meetings across the state. Speakers included MPs, MLAs, elected representatives of local bodies, and other local leaders. We have also invited former ministers and former party office-bearers to provide guidance to the workers,” Dave said.