Full Steam Ahead: BJP revs up its election juggernaut for upcoming state polls

New Delhi, April 17 (IANS) While the opposition parties are still contemplating the reasons for their defeat, the BJP has started preparations for the assembly polls in all the major states being held till the end of next year. Senior BJP leaders including the Prime Minister have already started visiting these poll bound states.

Some of the big states where Assembly polls will be held by December 2023 are Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh at the end of 2022, Karnataka in the summer of 2023 and Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh at the end of 2023. Assembly polls in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh are considered as the semi-final for the general elections.

The BJP has already launched a campaign for this year's assembly polls in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be on his second visit to Gujarat from Sunday after the recent victory of the BJP in four out of five states.

Last month while interacting with BJP MPs from Gujarat, Prime Minister Modi told them to use social media to explain to the people about government work.

A senior party functionary said that the senior ministers and leaders will frequently travel to the poll bound states to highlight the government programmes and take stock of the preparations. "Visit of senior leaders and ministers to poll bound states will be a regular feature as parliament is also not in session," he said.

"We are asked to make a short video and share it with each voter through WhatsApp group. The video will be short and will tell about the work of the union and state governments. MPs will also be asked to highlight their own work for their parliamentary constituency," a BJP MP said.

BJP chief J P Nadda has launched a party campaign with a roadshow in Shimla and had several meetings in different parts of Himachal Pradesh to take stock of the party preparations. From Sunday Nadda will be on a two-day visit to Karnataka. While visiting places of historical importance, Nadda will attend the valedictory session of the state BJP executive meeting.

Nadda also visited Rajasthan to review the preparations for next year's assembly polls.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah had visited the southern state Karnataka to take stock of preparations and asked the cadre to hit the ground running to achieve the 'mission 150+' next year. "Elections will be held next year. Amit (Shah) bhai ji has given certain directions to the state unit on how we should work on the ground. State unit executes the direction on the ground. We will contest the Karnataka election on Prime Minister Modi's name and work and the work of the BJP government in the state. We will again come to power for sure," C T Ravi, BJP national general secretary and member Karnataka assembly, had told IANS.

In Madhya Pradesh, the BJP has started several programmes strengthening organisations on the ground. Sources said that the formation of page committees and booth committees is on at full swing and will be completed in the coming months.

"The BJP workers are always on ground among people even during the peak of the Covid pandemic. As elections are approaching, we are simply putting things in place," a party insider said.