MUMBAI: The Maharashtra unit of the BJP has set itself a target to mop up 200 seats out of the total 288 in the state assembly and 45 out of 48 Lok Sabha seats in the state in the next round of elections. To achieve this goal, it gave a five-point agenda to its elected representatives, leaders and workers in its recently concluded conclave held in Nasik.
According to the leaders who were part of the meeting, the first agenda given to them was to attract the Marathi voters, particularly in Mumbai and its metropolitan region as these voters were more inclined towards the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena.
“Marathi voters are sympathetic towards Uddhav Thackeray. We broke the Shiv Sena by dividing it into two parts, but the lower base and the Marathi voters are still with Uddhav Thackeray. BJP workers and leaders should reach out to these voters if they want to bring BJP in power in BMC and subsequently in the state. These are mostly Hindu voters,” said a senior BJP leader on the condition of anonymity.
The second agenda for the BJP leaders is to work out a plan to poach the second rung leadership of the Opposition parties. “The second rung leadership is quite street smart. If these young leaders join the BJP, we will groom them properly and will get ready-made active party workers for the next elections,” he said. The third agenda was to attract the oppressed class voters who are ‘stuck’ with the Congress and the NCP.
“The oppressed class percentage is more than 10 per cent in Maharashtra. In most of the elections, they prefer to cast their votes to secular parties rather than the BJP. We should have an outreach program for these voters by taking the message of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s initiatives to them. This will increase the voting percentage of the BJP and the number of seats as well,” said another leader.
The fourth agenda was to focus on the seats where the BJP had lost by a slender margin in the previous elections or it was runner up, while the fifth agenda was to increase the party’s presence on the social media. “The fifth agenda given to us was to increase our presence on social media. Social media is an important tool to build the narrative against the Oppositions and reach out to the young voters,” he added.
‘Party plans to attract oppressed class voters’
The third agenda was to attract the oppressed class voters who are ‘stuck’ with the Congress and the NCP. “The oppressed class percentage is more than 10 per cent in Maharashtra. In most of the elections, they prefer to cast their votes to secular parties rather than the BJP. We should have an outreach program for these voters.”