As Nitin Nabin makes first move to ready BJP for key polls, what is his message

His decision to appoint experienced senior leaders to oversee the municipal corporation elections is also in keeping with the BJP’s renewed focus on those urban areas, where the party’s performance was sub-par in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

According to BJP sources, Nabin is expected to announce his full team — likely a mix of young leaders and experienced hands — within a couple of months.

On Tuesday, Nabin appointed Vinod Tawde, one of the party’s most senior general secretaries currently, to oversee the elections in Kerala. Ram Madhav, who has established his strategising skills in several states in the past, has been made in-charge of the Greater Bengaluru Corporation elections, while Maharashtra Minister Ashish Shelar, a prominent young leader in Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis’ team, will helm the party’s run for the civic body elections in Telangana. Tawde will also serve as the election observer for the January 29 Chandigarh mayoral election.

BJP president Nitin Nabin at the party headquarters on Wednesday. (Expreess Photo By Amit Mehra)

In Bengaluru, Madhav will be assisted by Satish Poonia, a party veteran from Rajasthan who was a key figure in the BJP’s surprise 2024 Assembly poll victory in Haryana, and Maharashtra MLA Sanjay Upadhyay.

Union Minister and senior party leader Shobha Karandlaje has been appointed as co-in-charge for the Kerala Assembly polls, while former Rajasthan BJP chief Ashok Parmani and Rajya Sabha MP Rekha Sharma will work with Shelar in Telangana, where elections are scheduled for next month. The polls in the Bengaluru Municipal Corporations are expected to be held after May 25.

While the appointments offer indications about Nabin’s emerging team, BJP insiders said Madhav’s fresh assignment — after serving as the party’s in-charge for the September-October 2024 Jammu and Kashmir Assembly polls — suggests that he could be brought back with significant responsibilities after being kept away from organisational duties for a while.

Madhav, in a post on social media, highlighted the importance of the Bruhad Bengaluru Mahanagar Palike (BBMP). “BBMP is very prestigious because it is a conglomerate of five corporations that include several towns and more than 120 villages besides the city of Bengaluru. With an electorate of over 9 million and 369 corporation wards, it is no less than an Assembly battle for the state,” he said.

BJP insiders said Nabin’s first appointments reflected the PM’s message delivered on Tuesday at the party headquarters, when the latter was declared the party chief. “Today, the BJP is not only the first choice in Parliament and state Assemblies, but also in municipalities and municipal corporations. The latest example of this is Maharashtra. The BJP has become the number one party in Maharashtra’s local bodies. Out of a total of 29, the people of 25 big cities have chosen the BJP–NDA. Of the total councillors who have won, 50 per cent are from the BJP. Similarly, in Kerala, the BJP has around 100 councillors,” Modi said, lauding the party for winning the “trust of the people” in the Thiruvananthapuram civic body.

While a state BJP chief pointed to the PM’s emphasis on local bodies, another party leader said, “The new focus is on boosting the performance of the BJP in the urban areas. The party could not do as expected in the 2024 general election only because of our poor performance in some urban areas. At present, the party leadership appears to be confident about the rural votes, but despite our good performances in the states including in Delhi, it has concerns over the urban votes.”

In the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP lost 92 of its 303 seats, which it had won in 2019, while winning 32 new constituencies, including several urban seats such as Mumbai North Central and Mumbai North East. Although its vote share in urban areas had grown steadily between 2009 and 2019, the 2024 Lok Sabha polls saw a dip in that trend. An analysis of data revealed that the party’s vote share declined in rapidly urbanising areas, despite being known for its strong urban support.

Tawde’s Kerala assignment assumes greater significance as it comes close on the heels of the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) emerging victorious in the recent local body elections in the state. Deputing Tawde,who is seen as enjoying the confidence of Union Home Minister Amit Shah, to Kerala is being viewed as a sign of the party central leadership’s “seriousness” about the state Assembly elections.

On Wednesday, Nabin met state BJP chiefs, national office-bearers, state in-charges and morcha presidents to review the organisational functioning in all the states and the party’s preparation in all five poll-bound states. Earlier this week, Kerala BJP president Rajeev Chandrasekhar and other senior leaders were in the national capital to discuss election strategies for the upcoming Assembly polls. Sources said Modi is likely to visit Kerala on Friday, and Nabin may travel to the poll-bound state early next month.

Although the BJP’s wins in Kerala local body polls were largely confined to certain areas, including the Thiruvananthapuram corporation, the party emerged as the runner-up in more than 125 gram panchayats and 14 municipalities.

Earlier this month, Shah visited Kerala to discuss the party’s future roadmap with the state leaders. BJP insiders said the party’s prospects of winning a few Assembly seats are bright, and that “tactical moves and efficient strategy” could help it make significant gains in the state.