At top meet, BJP seeks to turn defeat chapter, send message for LS polls

Thousands of members of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)’s national council will meet on Friday in New Delhi for three days ahead of the crucial Lok Sabha election to be held later this year.

The conclave, possibly the last such event of the party before the elections, is being organised after the BJP lost the assembly elections in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, and Chhattisgarh to Congress.

BJP president Amit Shah will address at least 10,000 members of the council and Prime Minister Narendra Modi will talk to them on Saturday.

A party leader said a meeting of the national council, in which district-level leaders have been invited, on such a scale has been called for the first time. The council meets once a year with roughly 3000-plus leaders in attendance.

“... a couple of resolutions covering economics, politics and other relevant subjects [will be passed at the conclave],” another leader said.

The BJP will try to step up preparedness on the organisational front by roping in talent from across the country for specific election-related jobs.

BJP strategists said the party’s strategy for the conclave and afterwards is two-fold. It will attempt to set a “positive narrative” for the party by again showcasing the “impressive size” of beneficiaries of central schemes.

The party will also try to dismiss criticism on the economic front by focussing on how India has attained the status of the world’s sixth largest economy last year. It would highlight how India will soon become the fifth largest economy, the strategists said.

It would seek to counter the Opposition’s attempts to form a grand alliance by highlighting how it could push the country into a state of political instability again.

The proposal to provide the economically weaker sections 10% quota in educational institutions and government jobs will be “hailed” at the conclave.