Post-National Executive meet, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is heavily focusing on efficient management of about 1.38 lakh polling booths, particularly in the rural areas, in Uttar Pradesh as the margin of victory and defeat of candidates in a number of Assembly segments could be very thin in a three-corner contests.
As of now, the three mainline parties — ruling Samajwadi Party, Bahujan Samaj Party and the BJP - have made their ‘internal assessments’ and accepted that none has a ‘definite sweeping advantage’ over the other in the coming polls. “The scenario may, however, change in the next six to seven months with the campaign picking up,” maintain leaders of these parties.
Meanwhile, the consolidation of party organisation at the last tier is one of the highest priorities for the BJP which discussed the issue in one of the sessions of its recently-concluded National Executive meeting.
"Booth jeeta, chunav jeeta"- the theme of the slogan has been well emphasized by top BJP leaders including party President Amit Shah during booth-level meetings at different regions in the state this month.
The monitoring of BJP's booth committees and interactions with their presidents and committee members has been entrusted to the party leaders at the topmost level including state president Keshav Prasad Maurya. The booth committee presidents have been authorised to interact directly with state or central leaders overriding party hierarchies.
The booth committees would be additionally strengthened in rural areas where BJP feels its network needs to be re-worked and brought at par with its urban centers.
Shah has asked all leaders in six zones in which the UP has been divided by the party to report on the functioning of booth committees and address complaints on the topmost priority basis.
Shah has himself addressed booth president's of Kanpur region and Braj region at Kasganj, Mathura. State president will be personally responsible to call or give audience to Booth committee president on a daily basis on phone or otherwise.
Besides six zones, the BJP has divided the state organisation into 1,463 mandals, 9,933 sectors and 92 district units in a bid to decentralise its poll preparations.
The party is hopeful that it would surge ahead as it tightens its grip at the micro-level organisational structures and connects it with the themes of campaign issues. " It is a three-cornered tight contest and campaign issues must jell with right kind of communication and the work at the booth levels ", said a senior party leader.