BJP Targets Multiple States After Karnataka Poll Rout

New Delhi: After the Karnataka poll rout, the BJP has begun targeting Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, Rajasthan and Telangana, among other states. Top party leaders ranging from home minister Amit Shah and party president J.P. Nadda are expected to criss-cross the country holding rallies and public meetings.

Officially, these are being held to mark the completion of nine years of the Narendra Modi government at the Centre.

Keeping an eye on the Lok Sabha polls, Shah is likely to hold a rally at Sirsa on June 18. Top party leaders will also be in Andhra Pradesh as part of the BJP’s Jan Sampark Abhiyan. The home minister is expected to address a rally in Visakhapatnam on June 11, while the BJP chief is likely to hold another rally at Tirupati on June 10. Shah is expected to visit poll-bound Chhattisgarh on June 22.

The top party leaders, particularly the home minister during his visits to the states, are expected to meet local leaders and party workers. The BJP will also take stock of its MLAs’ performance across the states. It “will zero on the Opposition-dominated constituencies and visits of leaders in these areas will be more frequent,” a senior leader said.

After its debacle in Karnataka, the top BJP leadership has decided to firmly handle all internal rifts within state units. Sources said that simmering differences within the Madhya Pradesh unit was being addressed and senior state leaders have been asked to rally behind Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan.

Giving the Karnataka example, the central leadership has told all state units that “internal differences” would have “serious consequences”. Led by Chouhan, the BJP is continuing its “mass outreach programme”, a senior party leader said.

Similarly, in Rajasthan, the state unit has been asked to resolve all differences. It was being made clear that former chief minister Vasundhara Raje “will be the party”s face” in the Assembly elections. The BJP is expected to take out a “Jan Aakrosh Yatra” against the Congress government on June 13. While Raje leads the race as the party’s CM face, Union minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat is close on her heels.  With the fight between Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and his bete noire Sachin Pilot raging, the BJP can “smell victory” in the desert state. “Neither of these two Congress leaders want the party to win,” a senior BJP leader observed. It was revealed that despite efforts, the Congress high command was not able to stop the catfight between Pilot and Gehlot. Speculation is rife that Pilot might snap ties with the Congress and launch his own outfit.

While Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan have more or less been sorted, the BJP is now desperately looking for a face in Chhattisgarh to counter Congress CM Bhupesh Bhagel. Some BJP central leaders seem to have already conceded defeat even before the Chhattisgarh election. However, some state leaders indicated to the party high command that former chief minister Raman Singh could be projected as the party’s face in the state, The central leadership, however, is not too keen on projecting any leader in the state at this juncture, sources said.