BENGALURU: A year before she is eligible to exercise her franchise, seventeen-year-old Aahana is already a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), joining its ranks of over 27.77 lakh members in Karnataka. Aahana, a Commerce student at a private college, feels proud to be associated with the party and says, “Its membership drive is so accessible and convenient, you cannot miss it at all.”
Colleges and university campuses have always been launchpads for budding politicians.
Many leaders in the BJP, too, have emerged from campuses. But for now, that is not the party’s focus in Karnataka as the BJP is working on areas where it is weak, to expand its influence and reach beyond certain regions, leaders and communities.
Multiple strategies that are planned meticulously are put in place in one go. The appointment of three deputy chief ministers and Nalin Kumar Kateel’s elevation as state president, too, are said to be part of this larger plan.
Old Mysuru tops the list of regions where the party is likely to mobilize its resources in the next few months and years, to gain a strong foothold. Though the party managed to put up a good show in the recent Lok Sabha polls, the BJP may end up being number three in a three-cornered fight with Congress and JDS here.
The party is well aware of its weaknesses and how various factors, including the JDS-Congress coalition, helped the latter’s candidates during the recent Lok Sabha polls in Old Mysuru region.
Unlike in the coastal region, Mumbai-Karnataka and Central Karnataka, where it has a strong cadre and leaders, or in Hyderabad-Karnataka region, where it is gaining ground, Old Mysuru remains a strong bastion of the JDS and Congress.
“We are concentrating more on areas where we are weak,” says BJP State Secretary Bharathi Magdum. Based on votes its candidates polled in the last few elections, the party has categorized booths as A, B and C, based on strength, with A being the strongest and C, the weakest. Most of the ‘C category’ booths are in Old Mysuru region.
BJP General Secretary and MLC N Ravi Kumar said their membership drive is a continuous process to strengthen the party base, and is being taken up across the state with more focus on ‘C category’ booths.
During the membership drive, the party had set a target of enrolling 50 lakh members in the state via personal contact, missed call numbers, helplines as well as the NaMo app, and its 8,787 vistaraks who dedicatedly worked 24/7 to reach the goal. Currently, they have enrolled 27.77 lakh members. The target is to enrol 100 members in each booth.
Now, the party has embarked on enrolling two active members in all booths. They will be the party’s pointspersons in the booths, conveying the party’s message to other members and voters in their respective booths. Ravi Kumar, who is also convener of the team that looks after the membership drive in the state, said they will conduct a workshop for active members.
Apart from the membership drive, a series of other decisions, including the appointment of three DyCMs, that kicked up debate within and outside BJP circles, and the appointment of Nalin Kumar Kateel as state unit president, are said to be in tune with the plan to take the party beyond certain communities and leaders.
Sources in the party said that was one of the major reasons is to groom a young leader, who is acceptable to urban voters. Party members feel that Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa, who is known for championing the farmers’ cause and enjoys considerable support from the dominant Lingayat community, has limited appeal among young urban voters, especially in Bengaluru. In the 2018 assembly elections, the party did not do particularly well in Bengaluru, compared to other regions, despite its high-pitched campaign led by many state and central leaders.
Sources said that while BS Yediyurappa will continue to lead the party, Dr Ashwathnarayan, who has been made DyCM, is being projected as the party’s urban face. Like Revenue Minister R Ashoka, who was so far considered the party’s go-to man in Bengaluru, Malleswaram MLA Ashwathnarayan is a Vokkaliga leader.
“You need young leaders who can tour the state and build the party along with Yediyurappa. May be that is the reason why the party decided to appoint Ashwathnarayan and Laxman Savadi (a Lingayat leader from Belagavi) as DyCMs, apart from Govind Karjol,” said a party leader.