Jharkhand elections: In 4-hour meeting, Amit Shah corrects BJP strategy, campaign course
RANCHI: Union home minister and BJP's national president Amit Shah is on a special mission to Jharkhand. BJP sources said Shah has gathered his own intelligence inputs from grassroot workers and advised party leaders to change their strategy for campaigning.
After the debacle in Maharashtra and close shave in Haryana, the BJP leadership wants to ensure nothing goes wrong in Jharkhand.
BJP leaders said this is the party's top brass has decided to intervene to correct the trajectory of campaign to help the party achieve its aim of winning more than 65 seats.
After addressing rallies in Manika and Lohardaga , Shah on Thursday held talks with chief minister Raghubar Das and members of the party's core committee from four constituencies - Bishunpur, Lohardaga, Gumla and Latehar - at Saraswati Sishu Mandir campus in Lohardaga.
BJP sources said Shah's visit before the first phase of elections is important for the party. "He has his own surveys carried out in all the four assembly constituencies about voters' leanings and reactions, which could make or mar the fate of our candidates," said a senior BJP leader who did not wish to be quoted. However, what course corrections were suggested by Shah during the four-hour meeting remains a secret.
After addressing rallies in Manika and Lohardaga , Shah on Thursday held talks with chief minister Raghubar Das and members of the party's core committee from four constituencies - Bishunpur, Lohardaga, Gumla and Latehar - at Saraswati Sishu Mandir campus in Lohardaga.
BJP sources said Shah's visit before the first phase of elections is important for the party. "He has his own surveys carried out in all the four assembly constituencies about voters' leanings and reactions, which could make or mar the fate of our candidates," said a senior BJP leader who did not wish to be quoted. However, what course corrections were suggested by Shah during the four-hour meeting remains a secret.
Bishunpur seat is held by JMM's Chamra Linda, Lohardaga's sitting MLA is Sukhdeo Bhagat (who defected from Congress and joined BJP in Octobeer). In Gumla, BJP has benched its MLA Shivshankar Oraon and given the ticket to Mishir Kujur. In 2014, Oraon had won the election by defeating JMM's Bhushan Tirkey with a narrow margin of 4,000 votes. In Latehar the sitting MLA Prakash Ram defected from JVM-P and joined BJP recently.
State BJP leaders also said that executive president J P Nadda will be on a similar mission on Friday. State BJP general secretary Deepak Prakash said: "Nadda is scheduled to address a public meeting at 11am in Latehar. At 1pm, he is scheduled to hold a vidhan sabha core committee meeting in Palamu." Party sources said Nadda will address leaders from Daltonganj, Chatra, Bhawnathpur, Hussainabad and advise them on corrective measures.
In Daltonganj, BJP has retained its sitting MLA Alok Chaurasia though he won the 2014 assembly polls with just 4,347 votes. In Chatra, BJP has benched its sitting MLA Jay Prakash Singh Bhogta and gave the party ticket to Janardan Paswan. In Bhawnathpur, the sitting MLA Bhanu Pratap Shahi joined the saffron brigade last month. In Hussainabad, BJP has extended support to independent candidate Vinod Singh. In 2014, Bahujan Samaj Party candidate Kushwaha Shivpujan Mehta had won the Hussainabad seat. Mehta too joined BJP's one-time ally Ajsu Party recently.
Next Story
READ ON APP