BENGALURU: After dining with dalits to expand the party’s base among SC-ST communities, BJP leaders are getting ready for staying with minorities as part of a new campaign to change the perception of minorities towards the party. Keen to replicate its successful experiment in the Uttar Pradesh election, BJP’s minority wing has chalked out a ‘Vistarak’ (reach out) programme in Karnataka starting from Monday as part of the birth anniversary of Deendayal Upadhyaya.
State BJP Minority Morcha president Abdul Azeem told Express that about 2,500 party workers have so far enrolled for Vistarak programme. “We will dedicate the next 15 days for the campaign under which we will camp in the mandals (constituencies) with huge minority population and go door to door to reach out to families of minority communities. Apart from the Minority Morcha, leaders from the party will also actively participate in the campaign.”
The Vistaraks would have to reach out to 25 households every day during the 15-day campaign and hold interactions with groups of local residents. The emphasis is on forming groups of students, doctors, lawyers and labourers.“We will highlight the slew of welfare programmes launched by the Narendra Modi government, try to demolish the wall built by Congress and other political parties between the minorities and the BJP. We will try to change the perception of minorities towards the BJP,” Azeem, the super cop-turned-politician told Express.
Terming his experience so far in enrolling minorities into BJP as encouraging, Azeem said about 30,000 people from minority communities have been enrolled into BJP in the last two years. “We have a target of at least 1,000 families in each of the 224 Assembly constituencies in the next six months,” he added.
Six teams to woo minorities
The state BJP leadership has formed six teams, each headed by a leader from the BJP Minority Morcha to woo minorities towards the party. The heads of the teams have been assigned specific constituencies with specific strategies to cause a dent in the minority vote bank of rival Congress.
The teams would be led by : Abdul Azeem - Narasimha Raja(constituency in Mysuru), Mukhtar Pathan - Kalaburagi North, Rashmi D’Souza - Bengaluru South, Rahim Uchil - Dharwad South, Shantaram Kennedy - Davangere North and Tipu Sultan- Hadagali.
KP Nanjundi appointed as BJP vice-president
Vishwakarma community leader K P Nanjundi has been appointed BJP state vice-president by party state president B S Yeddyurappa. Nanjundi, who recently quit Congress to join BJP has been asked to actively engage in party organisational activities. A mega rally of the community would be organised soon to draw the community towards BJP, Yeddyurappa said. Former minister ESS En Krishnaiah Setty returned to BJP on Sunday. Yeddyurappa formally re-inducted him into the party.
“It was a mistake on my part to quit the party. I will never repeat the mistake. I will dedicate myself to strengthen the party in Kolar district. There is anti-Congress sentiment in the state and BJP will return to power in the next election,” Setty said.