BJP to bank on SHGs,Sakhi Mandals to help its cause

Party national general secretary Ram Lal,in a party meeting here last week called upon local leaders to explore the possibility of roping in these two major sections,which have organised themselves to get a toehold in the economy with the help of government funding agencies. The idea was to increase the membership base in the rural areas where SHGs and Sakhi Mandals are more active.

A press release by party spokesperson I K Jadeja said: “Shri Ram Lal ji said Gujarat is a strong state from the organisation point of view. Different morchas and cells should strengthen the membership drive. Mahila sadasyata abhiyan ne vadhu safal banavva Sakhi Mandalo,Swa Sahyata Mahila Joothne sankalva anurodh karyo hato (He requested us to rope in Sakhi Mandals and women’s SHGs to make women membership recruitment drive more successful).”

BJP state vice-president Chandrikaben Patel,who also attended the meeting,welcomed the idea,saying that SHGs and Sakhi Mandals are more organised and easier to work with. He said: “We will approach them and invite members who are willing to subscribe to the party ideology.”

Party MLA Vasuben Trivedi,who is working on the membership drive in Jamnagar district,said: “So far,we have not received any specific instructions from the party leadership to approach them,” she said.

State party president Parshottam Rupala and general secretary Bhikhu Dalsania said this was a move made by the national leadership. Ram Lal,who was busy in daylong meetings with party colleagues on Sunday,could not be reached for comment.

Elsewhere,the SHGs have raised doubts about roping in women SHGs for political leverage. One SHG consists of 10 to 15 members and there are around 1 lakh SHGs in Gujarat.

A senior official with NABARD said: “The characteristic of an SHG is that its members are homogenous in their educational,financial and social status and they select their group leader from among themselves. More importantly,there is no scope for dictatorship or autocracy in these groups.”

Reema Nanavaty,coordinator of rural development programme of Self Employed Women’s Association (SEWA) who has worked closely with SHGs in the 14 districts of the state said,that bringing in SHGs to any political party fold would defeat the very purpose of helping them attain economic empowerment.

“On the contrary,this will give leverage to politicians who then will use these groups as their political tool,” she said,adding that this is an undesirable proposition and should be avoided.