Prepare for 2019 Lok Sabha polls, BJP tells cadres

Mumbai: The Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) Maharashtra unit has asked its cadre to start preparing for the elections right away.

“The people are supporting us. They have kept faith in (Prime Minister Narendra) Modiji’s leadership. But that doesn’t mean that everything is done. We must start preparing for the elections” was the tone of all speeches in the state executive meeting, which started in Pimpri on Wednesday.

Union minister Nitin Gadkari inaugurated this two-day executive meeting and asked the party cadre to reach out to the public. Interestingly, BJP leaders also trained their guns on ruling partner Shiv Sena for going against the government on every issue.  

Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, state BJP chief Raosaheb Danve and all other senior leaders from the state were present for the meeting.

Every BJP MLA is now expected to go to each village in his or her constituency every six months. Ministers will have to reach out to every constituency and also party office bearers will have to venture into constituencies where the party has no MLAs.

Sources said senior leaders also raised their objections to Sena’s vitriol against the BJP government of which it is a part. “We must aim to go beyond the Sena and see to it that we come to power on our own in the future. You can’t have a partner who just keeps attacking you everyday. It has become their one-point agenda to damage the BJP,” said a senior leader.

The executive has also decided to use more means of communication including social media to reach out to the public to inform it about the government’s decisions.