Gearing up for LS polls, BJP forms committee to induct prominent faces

Aditi Tandon

New Delhi, January 10

Eyeing expansion ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, the ruling BJP has formed committees, including one tasked with considering potential new joinees especially on seats where the party is weak.

BJP chief JP Nadda is learnt to have assigned charge of these committees to senior general secretaries.

While Vinod Tawde, currently handling Bihar, will look after the joining committee, which will attempt to induct senior leaders and personalities from across the political and social spectrum into the party, former Union Minister Radha Mohan Das Agrawal will be in charge of the panel that will draft a vision document for the 2024 election. BJP general secretary Dushyant Gautam has been asked to hold Buddhism-themed conferences across the country to enlarge BJP’s base and another general secretary, Sunil Bansal, will be handling publicity and election campaign work.

The responsibilities to the BJP general secretaries were assigned by Nadda amid speculation that some Congress and NCP (Sharad Pawar faction) leaders from Maharashtra were in touch with the BJP.

The BJP has set itself a target of crossing 50 per cent vote share in the 18th General Election, a feat no party has achieved so far. The Congress, at its peak in 1984 elections when it won 414 seats, had 48.1 per cent vote share.

Targets 12/14 seats in Assam

Ahead of Congress’ Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra, BJP Assam president Bhabesh Kalita said the NDA was targeting at least 12 of the state’s 14 LS seats. Currently, the BJP has nine seats, Congress three and AIUDF and an Independent one each. The BJP is also hoping for gains across the North-East.