BJP Steps up Poll Preparation for Haryana

New Delhi: After the BJP’s dismal performance in Haryana in the last Lok Sabha polls, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, along with Union home minister Amit Shah, will, according to sources, chalk out the strategy for the year-end Assembly elections in the state. The BJP, according to party insiders, is not just relying heavily on Mr Modi for its poll strategy but also to win over the voters for the third consecutive term.

In a bid to boost the party’s prospects in Haryana, sources say that the BJP is planning to schedule several visits by Mr Modi to the poll-bound state, even before the elections are officially announced.

According to sources in the party, Mr Modi is keenly observing the political as well as the administrative developments in the state and is taking regular updates on Haryana.

In the last few days, the Prime Minister met not only the newly appointed state BJP president Mohan Lal Badoli, but also all the MPs from Haryana. During the meeting, Mr Modi asked them to ensure that the welfare schemes launched by the Central government as well as the state government reach the intended beneficiaries, with a focus on the poor. He also explained the intricacies of booth management and emphasised party workers' efforts in spreading awareness of various welfare schemes.

Before that, Haryana chief minister Nayab Singh Saini met Mr Modi and updated him on his government's welfare measures in the state. He also briefed the Prime Minister over the Agniveer and farmers' issues.

Union minister and former chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar has already invited Mr Modi to visit the state and take part in government events.

Pushing the BJP's case in Haryana, Mr Shah has visited the pool-bound state twice in June and July. First, he attended the state executive meeting in Panchkula on June 29 and then again on July 16, when he addressed the OBC Samman Sammelan at Mahendragarh Pali and made important announcements for the community.

Both Mr Modi and Mr Shah, along with other state and Central leaders, are working to devise a campaign that can withstand the 10 years of anti-incumbency.

The party is also working on a strategy to gain from the internal factionalism within the state unit of the Congress party. Much to the chagrin of the BJP's poll strategists, the party's Haryana unit is also riddled with internal strife. A case in point -- Gurugram MP and Union minister Rao Inderjit Singh's daughter, Arti Singh Rao, recently indicated that if she fails to get a BJP ticket, she will contest as an Independent.

Mr Singh, who is a scion of the erstwhile princely state of Rewari and wields influence over 11 Assembly seats in Haryana, often expressed unhappiness over being denied a larger role in the Modi Cabinet.