BJP national executive endorses new roadmap
Keeping the coming Uttar Pradesh Assembly poll in mind, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) at its national executive meet in Allahabad planned to focus on the development agenda and the growing misrule and lawlessness of the ruling Akhilesh Yadav Government as its twin strategies to woo the voters in the State. The party, with its current pace of victory in both the Assembly and Rajya Sabha polls, must not be complacent about a dying Congress, the current ruling dispensation in Uttar Pradesh or even an unpredictable Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP).
The development plank set forth by both Prime Minister Narendra Modi and party president Amit Shah has paid rich dividends in the past. Arguably, the party has brought home the message that there is no harm in being both pro-poor and pro-business. The malaise of misgovernance and the massive campaign of communal and caste hatred of the Uttar Pradesh Government can be highlighted by the BJP in the upcoming poll. The Uttar Pradesh election is too crucial for the party and it can be a gamechanger for the Assembly polls in Punjab and Gujarat. The BJP national executive highlighted the use of social media and the modern means of technology for spreading the Government's pro-poor policies and people friendly schemes. Presenting to the people, a two-year report card and the constant obstructions that the Modi Government is facing from the Opposition, led by the Congress in Parliament would be truly be beneficial for the party.
As Shah has termed 2017 as the ‘year of challenges', it underlines how it is crucial for the party to maintain its status quo in States like Gujarat and make a strong comeback in Uttar Pradesh where the party has taken a long sanyaas. This time it must register a stunning victory by emphasising on its development rhetoric, stressing on upper caste and Dalit votes. Surely, ‘growth with a human face' can influence voters in Uttar Pradesh, but like in Assam, declaring a chief ministerial candidate can be be a smart move. Uttar Pradesh being sensitive to both religious and caste sentiments, the BJP’s handling of the Ram temple issue will be critical for winning the Hindu votes.
Though national and international issues play a lesser role in Assembly polls, yet today our voters have gone ‘glocal’ and Modi's re-fashioning of Indian diplomacy may help further enthuse voters in the State. Also, instead of resorting to a mere negative campaign, the BJP must re-orient the voters towards a new poll age. The national executive resolution emphasising the measures of a balance between welfare and growth can be a strategic move to demonstrate the voters how it was helpful for increasing domestic growth and consumption.
The economic resolution cleared by the executive has termed the appropriate blending of welfare measures and growth as the hallmark of the Modi Government. In fact, the way the Union Government is wading through the rot left by the UPA Government and recharging the dying economy deserves a big applause. last but not the least, the ‘Ayodhya to Antyodaya' policy platform is a pragmatic one that reflects on the BJP’s evolution as a pan-national outfit focussed on development and public welfare.