New Delhi: Over 84 seats in South India will be key focus of the Bharatiya Janata Party in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections — one of the main takeaways from the deliberations in the last two days of the party’s office bearers meet.
Leaders attending the meet said that the party is now focused on increasing its footprint in the region, as it looks to increase its 2019 tally of 303.
Apart from that, a key push will be for the Yadav and Jatav votes in the North Indian states.
A key organisational leader of the party from South India said that 84 of these seats are part of the weak category of seats for the BJP, those that it has not won ever. Along with several seats in West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh and Telangana, these account for over 160 seats.
The leader added that while people in Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Andhra Pradesh have an increasing appeal for Modi, the big task is to get them to turn up at the polling booth on voting day.
“The booth is the main focus of this endeavour — how our booth committees function, and which way do they shape up strategies to lead a voter to the booth. A more effective and scientific approach will be taken up,” the leader said.
The leader added that the idea is to expand the BJP’s footprint in these seats, even if they do not win.
The party has also set targets of winning 350 seats in all, with the aim of a 55% vote share.
A cabinet minister, who is an MP from North India, said that in his region, the BJP is keen on winning Yadav and Jatav votes, both. The move to name Mohan Yadav as the chief minister in Madhya Pradesh is part of that approach, the minister added. BJP’s big OBC push is aimed at Jatav votes in UP.
On the Ram Mandir, the BJP will not be seen directly working on an outreach, sources said, but its affiliate -- the Vishwa Hindu Parishad -- will work on its behalf.
Leaders also said that building on the 'Viksit Bharat' campaign, where the party publicises its welfare measures, the BJP will come up with a new campaign called 'Modi ki guarantee'.