Lok Sabha Pravas Yojna: Nadda to launch BJP’s pre-poll campaign in state on Jan 2

The pre-poll campaign is part of the party’s Lok Sabha Pravas Yojna. It has shortlisted 160 constituencies of the total 545 constituencies in Lok Sabha, where the party will face a difficult time. Maharashtra has 144 constituencies of which 18 are tough for the party.

A senior BJP leader said that these 18 constituencies are Baramati, Shirur, Raigad, Satara, Chandrapur, Aurangabad, Hingoli, Parbhani, Osmanabad, Ratnigiri-Sindhudurg, Mumbai-North-West, Buldhana, Kalyan, Nashik, Thane, Kolhapur, Hathkanangle and Ramtek.

“The list of constituencies was drawn before the split of the Shiv Sena. So, it includes some constituencies like Kalyan and Thane, which are held by the Shinde faction. BJP has decided to lend its full support in these shortlisted constituencies to help the Shinde faction in upcoming polls,” the leader said.

The Loksabha Pravas Yojna coordinator Vishwanath Bhegde said, “As part of the pre-poll preparations undertaken through Lok Sabha Pravas Yojna, J P Naddaji will arrive in Chandrapur in Maharashtra on Monday (January 2, 2023). Soon after his arrival, he will visit the famous Kali temple in the city in the morning. He will address a public rally near the New English High School by noon. Post-rally, he will hold an organisational meeting. It will be followed by another public address in the evening, which will be followed by discussions with state top leaders and office bearers.”

The Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari, Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis, Union Minister of State for Railways Raosaheb Danve, national party secretary Pankaja Munde, former minister Hansraj Ahir, state cabinet minister Sudhir Mungantiwar along with local leaders will be present during Nadda’s day-long tour.

Nadda’s visit to Maharashtra is significant as BJP has set an ambitious target to cross 400 seats of the 545 seats in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. The state with 48 Lok Sabha seats is the second highest in numbers after Uttar Pradesh with 80 seats.

Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis has been given the daunting task to maximise gains in Maharashtra. In terms of numbers, BJP has set the goal to win 45 seats. State BJP president Chandrashekhar Bawankule said, “BJP has already set in process the organisational plans for the big battle during the 2024 Lok Sabha and Assembly elections. We aim to achieve victory in 45 seats.”

With Balasahebanchi Shiv Sena (BSS) led by CM Eknath Shinde as an alliance partner, BJP is working on multiple strategies to make inroads in the opposition forte. BJP knows it is going to be a tough fight if Congress, NCP and Shiv Sena (UBT) forge a pre-poll alliance during the polls.

“The development agenda, which is a game changer for Maharashtra will strike a positive chord with the masses. In just six months we have put on track all mega projects which were stalled during the MVA regime,” Fadnavis said.

“During 2014-2019, the BJP government has set in the momentum infrastructure project to bring a transformation of Maharashtra. Apart from these, important projects like Jalyukt-Shivar to tackle drought in 25,000 villages were started. It received a positive response. On the agriculture front, a series of reforms were initiated to double farmers’ income and crop production. Unfortunately, all these reforms were put on hold or moved at a slow pace during the MVA tenure,” he added.

Since June 30, the Shinde-led government restored these public welfare schemes to life, he said.

Opposition leader Ajit Pawar dismissed these claims saying, “It would be far-fetched to allege that the MVA government stalled development projects. Some projects were reviewed following complaints. Even we can list a series of welfare work undertaken during the MVA regime.”

Politics apart, the BJP’s decision to galvanise its organisation well in advance is part of its strategy mandatory under the vigilance of big two PM Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah.

In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, BJP had an alliance with Shiv Sena. Of the 48 seats, BJP won 23 while Shiv Sena got 18 seats. Congress and NCP, who had an alliance, bagged one and four seats, respectively. AIMIM won one seat and one seat went to an Independent.

The Chandrapur Lok Sabha seat where Nadda is starting the campaign is the lone seat won by Congress’s Suresh Dhanorkar in the 2019 LS polls.