Mission 2024: BJP aims to win 14 UP seats that it lost in 2019, starts taking feedback

Though the BJP lost 16 parliamentary seats in UP, it won two seats — Rampur and Azamgarh — in by-elections in June last year by defeating the Samajwadi Party (SP). In these two constituencies, the party has asked both newly-elected MPs to look after the preparations for the 2024 polls.

So, the party’s ocus has shifted to the other 14 seats — Ghazipur, Lalganj, Nagina, Amroha, Bijnor, Ambedkar Nagar, Saharanpur, Ghosi, Shrawasti, Jaunpur (won by BSP), Sambhal, Moradabad and Mainpuri (won by SP), and Rae Bareli (won by Congress). The BJP faced defeat in the Mainpuri bypoll last month despite a rigorous campaign in the SP bastion.

According to sources, at the meeting today, the Lok Sabha in-charges and coordinators were asked about the total number of days they toured their assigned constituencies and the number of days they spent there. The party has asked them to increase their movement in the assigned constituencies, stay there overnight and hold meetings with workers and the public, said sources. Senior leaders also took feedback on the efforts made for strengthening the organisation at the booth level and the works carried out by ‘vistaraks’ in this direction.

Sources said for each Assembly segment under a Lok Sabha constituency, the party has directed to prepare a list of 100 influential persons and another list of religious, social and cultural organisations. Also, a report has been sought on the social, political and organisational activities carried out in that constituency.

A senior party functionary said that the party had run such a campaign ahead of the 2019 elections and won 44 Lok Sabha seats it had lost across the country in 2014. Similarly, the party followed the campaign ahead of the 2022 Assembly elections in UP and won 29 seats it had lost in 2017.

Earlier, the BJP assigned responsibilities of these constituencies to some of the Union ministers, asking them to visit the constituencies at least once every month and hold meetings to find out the reasons behind the party’s defeat in the 2019 elections and also prepare the organisation at the local level for 2024.

In most of the constituencies in UP, Union ministers have already visited four-five times. They stayed there overnight for ‘chai-pe-charcha’,  met local influential peopleand took feedback from local RSS leaders.

“The party may suffer defeat in some constituencies owing to anti-incumbency factor, so we are aiming to win lost seats (in 2019),” said a party leader.