2024 Lok Sabha Elections: What’s in the mind of BJP?

The chariot of the Bharatiya Janata Party is riding towards winning the race in Lok Sabha 2024 polls. Despite Anti-CAA riots in 2019, two years of COVID-19, which is still pushing down our economy and other riots across the country, BJP has won almost all the urban body and bye-poll elections held in the last few months. Winning the seats of Azamgarh and Rampur, the party has proved that nothing is impossible for the organization. The Grand Old Party is struggling to win even Municipal Corporation elections while a new political party headed by Kejriwal (AAP) is spreading its wings across the nation. The country has seen the leadership of Sh. Narendra Modi in the past eight years, and I think even during the 2024 elections, BJP will be an easy choice for the voters. 

Booth Sashaktikaran Abhiyan 

Let me take the example of the Azamgarh Assembly Constituency of Uttar Pradesh. The booth-wise analysis of Azamgarh Constituency during the 2019 Lok Sabha Elections shows that BJP got less than 15% votes in more than 42 booths (which can be referred to as weak booths) while it got more than 60% votes in more than 48 booths (can be referred to as Strong Booths). During the 2019 Lok Sabha general elections, Akhilesh Yadav won the Azamgarh seat by garnering over 6 Lakh 21 Thousand votes and defeating BJP’s candidate Dinesh Lal Yadav Nirahua with a margin of 2 Lakh 59 Thousand votes. It was a bipolar contest. After the 2022 Legislative elections, Akhilesh Yadav and Azam Khan resigned as MPs and became MLAs, due to which the Azamgarh and Rampur seats had been vacated. The by-polls were held, and BJP won the Muslim-dominated seats, to everyone’s surprise. What happened in the last three years (from 2019 to 2022) that changed the mood of voters in the Azamgarh and Rampur seats (especially the Muslim voters) who voted for a Hindu candidate? This is where BJPs “Booth Strengthening Programme” (Booth Sashaktikaran Abhiyan) takes a centered approach. Said to be the brainchild of Prime Minister Sh. Narendra Modi, BSA aims to analyze the performance of the BJP at all the weak booths across all the Assembly Constituencies and make a list of actionable items to improve the party’s performance. 

The party has identified around 80,000 booths across the nation, and with the collective hard work of BJPs MPs, MLAs, MLCs, Karyakartas, RSS workers, and BJYM workers, the party is all set to win more seats in the 2024 Lok Sabha Elections. BJP MPs have been asked to coordinate with MLAs and make small teams at the constituency level. The small groups then schedule a visit to the houses of non-traditional BJP voters and create awareness about the central government’s schemes. 

Lok Sabha Pravas Yojana

Out of 543 Lok Sabha seats, BJP stood second or third in almost 144 seats. To snatch away those 144 seats from the clutches of the opposition, BJP has already begun “Lok Sabha Pravas Yojana”. Under this, selected union ministers have been appointed to some constituencies from this list of 144 constituencies. The Union Ministers will then do a 3-day visit to those constituencies and participate in a couple of events like a conversation with local voters, collecting the beneficiary data, making a list of common issues, press briefing etc. The message of “8-Saal, Seva, Sushasan Aur Gareeb Kalyan” will be escalated throughout the minister’s visit. This will not only help the party to increase its outreach for the elections but also help the legislators know about the ground issues in a much more detailed manner and therefore help in drafting the laws. 

Morcha Training Camps

BJP has always worked on the ideals of Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyay and Syama Prasad Mukherjee. With changing times, as more and more karyakartas from different sections of the society join the party, it is equally important to teach and train them. To train karyakartas and prepare them for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the party is now regularly organizing training camps for all its Morchas _ OBC Morcha, SC Morcha, ST Morcha, Mahila Morcha and Yuva Morcha. A training camp lasts for 3 days in which workshops are taken on how to use social media, create a narrative, and use digital methods for data collection and increase outreach to more voters. Thus, the BJP karyakartas are getting skilled. 

Conclusion

Seeing the past election results, one question that must bother Congress is, “Is INC ready for the 2024 Elections?” Or even before that, ask one fundamental question “Is Congress the principal opposition party in India today?” Congress has taken the word “opposition” quite seriously because the only task its MPs, MLAs and workers have done in the last eight years is opposing every law and decision taken by the government. The country last week saw the Maharashtra political crisis where a new ‘Hindutva’ government was formed. It was surprising to notice the absence of 11 Congress MLAs during the trust vote in the Maharashtra assembly.

The country will now witness the most critical elections – Presidential and Vice-Presidential Elections. NDA’s candidate Smt. Draupadi Murmu is all set to become the first tribal woman President of India. Even opposition parties like Akali Dal and 36 other parties support Draupadi Murmu Ji’s candidature. 2019’s Mahagathbandhan was a failure. Will it be a failure in 2024 as well ? It will be interesting to see how the opposition gears up to tackle BJP in the upcoming elections.