SATARA, SEPT 16: The Bharatiya Janata Party had decided to use its state executive conclave at Satara as a launching platform for a grand entry into western Maharashtra after the victory of its candidate in the recent Assembly by-election in Satara.The Congress and the cooperative movement were two sides of a coin, so felt the BJP's State leadership. With the roots of both firmly established in this part, even the mere idea of building up a cadre-based BJP machinery appeared remote. Entry into this region was always the party's distant dream. All this, till crown prince of Satara Udayanraje Bhosale contested the Assembly by-elections on a BJP ticket and won with a huge 47,000-vote margin.After the phenomenal defeat in the Lok Sabha elections, Udayanraje's victory proved soothing for the BJP. The question was how to turn the region, which Pramod Mahajan terms as ``a barren land'' for the party, into fertile ground. Hence the state executive conclave at Satara.Admits state BJP general secretary SharadKulkarni, Udayanraje's victory in Satara and another candidate's victory in Rahuri Assembly are being viewed as milestones in party circles. ``Times are changing fast. Earlier our candidates would always end up losing their deposit in this region. However, these victories imply that the people in this region have started taking us seriously,'' he said.The conclave vigorously discussed issues concerning western Maharashtra, revealed a BJP official. ``A detailed brief about projects of the Maharashtra Krishna Valley Development Corporation, the issues of project-affected persons, the Union Government's decision to delicense the sugar industry and its repercussions in this land of sugar barons and the issues concerning sugarcane labourers were discussed at length,'' he said. How to prepare taluka and district-level cadres to face these issues was also deliberated upon, he added.All these issues will be stressed during the political training workshops for local cadres. Workshops would be held early nextyear as part of the ``Action plan 2000,'' BJP's strategic plan to face Assembly elections in 2000, to create a task force of well entrenched activists in western Maharashtra.``Barring last year's Solapur conclave, the BJP, since it came into being had never even dared to hold such meetings in this region,'' said another party official. Only time will prove whether Satara will be a landmark in the BJP's history, he added.
