Bengaluru: Leaders of the state and city units of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have lost an opportunity to make an impact on citizens by drawing up a long-term plan for implementation of ‘Swachh Bharat’campaign.
Though the party launched the campaign, the leaders did not have a plan to sustain it. When contacted a senior leader and a few corporators confided that the party had not drawn up a detailed plan. A group of party leaders was disappointed with the performance of the party vis-a-vis
‘Swachh Bharat’ campaign. "We won 17 Lok Sabha seats in Modiji’s name. And we won three of the four Lok Sabha seats in Bengaluru. We should have properply planned the launch of ‘Swachh Bharat’ campaign to make an impact on October 2. Since we have major garbage problem in the city, people are worried about garbage issue. Under such circumstances, effective launch of ‘Swachh Bharat’ campaign would have been the best platform for us to tackle the garbage problem," a leader lamented.
According to the leader, a long-term campaign would help the party in two ways: “One, if we continue to effectively carry out this campaign as social service, party workers can wipe out the negative impression of the party among citizens. Two, in the long run, if the campaign proved successful, it would help the party gain politically in the run up to elections to BBMP. We could have easily defeated the Congress if we made effective plans," the leader added.
A BJP corporator, who concurred with the leader, suggested garbage clearance remained a problem in many areas. "If we successfully create awareness about ‘Swachh Bharat’ campaign and make people sensitive to littering, the first step is over. Then, the state government’s role will come into picture. If the government fails to address the garbage issue, the BJP can point fingers at the Congress government and reap political mileage,” the leader added.
