NEW DELHI: With the West Bengal verdict making the BJP go on the back foot, party chief J P Nadda on Saturday hosted senior ministers for a brainstorming session for Assembly elections coming up next year, with thrust on stepping up the Covid-19 vaccination drive to showcase achievements, even as unrelenting farm agitations remain a top concern for leaders of the saffron outfit.
Union ministers Rajnath Singh, Amit Shah, Narendra Singh Tomar, Nirmala Sitharaman took part in talks with Nadda. The BJP president held another brainstorming session with party vice-presidents and national general-secretaries to chalk out plans for the election-bound states, particularly UP, Uttarakhand, Goa, Manipur and Punjab, where polls are scheduled early next year.
It has been reliably learnt that BJP will soon roll out senior ministers for a tour of the districts in these states to build the narratives in favour of the party on the basis of the achievements of the Central government and the respective state dispensations.
BJP is worried at the prospects of the farmers not relenting against the Central government, with Jat mobilization against the saffron outfit potentially being remaining the key electoral risk for the Yogi Adityanath-led government in UP.
BJP is banking on Rajnath, seen as a farmer leader within the party, to help the party counter the anger of the farmers. Besides western UP, BJP is also staring at the risk of being on the electoral sidelines in Punjab, where its oldest ally Shiromani Akali Dal is chartering an independent path with Bahujan Samajwadi Party.
“While the government is aiming to cover the eligible people with vaccination against Covid-19 by December, party leaders stressed the need to advance it to October so that there’s time to build the narrative in favour of Brand Modi, which took a hit due to the second wave, which cost the party in the last phases of polls in Bengal. Also, farmers need something concrete to calm them down ahead of elections, which could be additional benefits under the existing schemes,” sources said.