Shiv Sena changing stripes?

The Shiv Sena has come up with a campaign to woo the voters in a systematic way. Though the idea is based on reaching every voter with specific issues, it has not gone down well with the Shiv Sainiks, who are used to hearing slapstick speeches.

Sena decides to reach voters with specific issues; Sainiks don8217;t like it

The Shiv Sena has come up with a campaign to woo the voters in a systematic way. Though the idea is based on reaching every voter with specific issues, it has not gone down well with the Shiv Sainiks, who are used to hearing slapstick speeches.

A meeting of party workers of Pune Parliamentary Constituency on Tuesday was a reflection of this mindset. The Shiv Sena has planned to go to all the 48 Parliamentary constituencies, meeting party workers and telling them tactics of reaching the voters in an effective way. The responsibility has been put on the shoulders of 12 senior leaders. The party has equipped them with a booklet and even with a power point presentation, which tells about how to convince the voters on the issues of suicides of farmers, electricity crisis and wrong policy on sugarcane and cotton.

Senior leaders Diwakar Rawate and Vinod Ghosalkar have been assigned the responsibility of Pune Parliamentary Constituency.

They made a presentation before the party workers on Friday. But to the dismay of these leaders, many party workers left the auditorium during the presentation that lacked the verbose appeal to which the Shiv Sainiks are used to. The auditorium, which was packed to capacity of more than 1,000 seats, wore a deserted look as the meeting proceeded, with merely 400 workers staying back till the end.

However, the shift in the tactics of the Shiv Sena was noticeable in the speeches. 8220;We had won the raging war of words in the past. But with the changing times, we should be more careful and reach out to voters with solutions to their problems,8221; said Ghosalkar.

Sunil Prabhu, leader of house in BMC, stressed the need for reading the voter list and identifying devoted voters. 8220;Every block level leader should take the responsibility of 1,200 voters in his block. He is expected to take a review of the portfolio of the voters and address issues accordingly,8221; he said.

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The handbook prepared for block leaders is well equipped with instructions on how to survey the voter list and the aims of the party. It also suggests homework by party workers.

Earlier in his speech, Rawate lashed out at the state government on the issue of Dow Chemical R038;D unit. Rawate ridiculed the state government for putting warkaris behind the bars for opposing the unit. 8220;It is shameful to see harmless warkaris getting such treatment in this state,8221; he said.