BJP Launches Campaign for LS Polls in C'garh by Holding Workers' Conference in Bastar

Raipur: BJP launched the campaign for the ensuing Lok Sabha polls, due in May-June this year, in Chhattisgarh by holding a felicitation ceremony for the party workers in Bastar in the state late on Saturday.

The Bastar event is part of the party's strategy to hold workers’ conferences in all the five divisions in Chhattisgarh to galvanise the local workers for the upcoming LS polls in the state, a senior BJP functionary here said.

The party launched its campaign for the upcoming LS polls in Chhattisgarh from Bastar.

A similar poll strategy was adopted by the party in the just concluded Assembly elections in the state by launching the campaign for the polls from Bastar.

BJP won eight out of 12 seats in Bastar in November Assembly elections in the state.

“BJP workers in Bastar had braved the challenges of Naxal threats while campaigning for the party in the just concluded Assembly polls in Chhattisgarh. Several of our workers and leaders were killed by Maoists during the period, but that did not deter our workers from campaigning for the party in Bastar”, chief minister Vishnu Deo Sai said while addressing the felicitation ceremony for the workers of Bastar in Jagdalpur.

BJP national general secretary in-charge of Chhattisgarh Om Mathur was also effusive in praise of BJP workers and leaders of Bastar, saying that they had campaigned for the party in the Naxal-infested areas in the last Assembly polls defying the Maoist threats.

The launch of the campaign for the ensuing LS polls in Chhattisgarh in Bastar followed the high-level planning meeting of the party held here on Friday.

The meeting was attended by Mr Mathur, Mr Sai, national joint organisation secretary Shiv Prakash, national vice-president B J Panda, state co-in-charge Nitin Nabin and two deputy chief ministers Arun Sao and Vijay Sharma.

The meeting has decided to focus on the Assembly seats lost by the party in the November polls.

Sources said that it has been decided that the grass root level workers of the party would be mobilised again to work among different sections of society and take feedback from them.

The BJP is planning to organise various religious programmes to highlight the January 22 consecration ceremony of Ayodhya Ram temple.

BJP had won nine out of 11 seats in the last LS polls in Chhattisgarh.