The BJP is tapping into talent outside its organisational pool to get ready for the 2019 Lok Sabha election. The party is forming groups called Lok Sabha Tolis in every State, comprising leaders of the party — who may or may not have formal organisational posts — to help candidates in various constituencies.
This is one of the many organisational innovations that party president Amit Shah has devised in his whirlwind tour that has touched over 18 States in a month and will cover the rest before ending in Maharashtra on July 22.
Mr. Shah has already covered 395 Lok Sabha constituencies and hopes to cover the rest before July 22, with tours in Kerala on Tuesday and Uttar Pradesh on July 4 and July 5.
Closed-door meets
Senior office-bearers of the party said Mr. Shah had been holding closed-door meetings with office-bearers, core committee members of State units, the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe morchas of the party, social media teams and Lok Sabha Tolis.
“These are very nuts and bolts kind of meetings, this is adhyakshaji’s [party president’s] fourth such tour. Things like the completion of booth committees, names of the workers, whether they have appropriate vehicles and smartphones etc. is gone into. It’s a 20-point checklist of preparedness, and each Lok Sabha seat is graded in terms of the party’s chances of winning there,” said a source.
Plans for events leading up to the polls and methods to propagate the party’s symbol are some of the things that figure in the checklist.
“For example, in Odisha, our strength mostly lies in western Odisha, and the coastal areas are bare of support, we need to build up organisational strength there... Reviews like this will help us be prepared organisationally,” said the source.
While Mr. Shah has been touring the country extensively since 2014, this being his fourth round of tours, with the general election less than a year away, there is a visible ramping up of party activity.
