The BJP has made no bones about Hindutva being its key poll plank in Karnataka this election season — but that is being bolstered by massive outreach programmes on the ground by the party’s much-vaunted election machinery.
While, on the surface, the party is engaging its supporters as well as baiters on ideological and communal issues, the real efforts to turn the wind in the party’s favour is being handled, with clockwork precision, by leaders and cadres on the ground.
From 12-member booth executive committees to micro-targeting of voters at the electoral roll page-level, the saffron party’s leaders claim that around 15 lakh cadres and leaders are working round the clock to retain its existing vote bank, create new support bases, and fight off anti-incumbency — online and offline.
All of this is in addition to a slew of public rallies planned across Karnataka for the national leadership of the BJP, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, undoubtedly the party’s most tireless campaigner and potent vote catcher.
Foot soldiers to change narrative
All the footwork of booth-level meetings, rallies, door-to-door outreach, temple-village/town square-community hall gatherings are in addition to the consistent online engagement, social media campaigns, audio-visual messaging via 50,260 WhatsApp groups and lakhs of campaign page-handlers on social media.
“We are carrying out the campaign at two levels. One, at the organisational level where cadres reach out to every single house in a booth. Each booth committee has to go door-to-door to 250 to 300 houses. Our aim is to cover 50 to 90 percent homes depending on our position in the booth,” BJP Karnataka General Secretary N Ravikumar told South First on the party’s Vijaya Sankalpa campaign scheduled to be held till 29 January.
“At the leader level, we will bring people to rallies and events. The latest was Prime Minister Modi’s rally on 19 January where Banjara community members were given land deeds,” he added.
ವಿಜಯ ಸಂಕಲ್ಪ ಅಭಿಯಾನದ ಮೂಲಕ ಕೇಂದ್ರ ಹಾಗೂ ರಾಜ್ಯ ಸರ್ಕಾರಗಳ ಸಾಧನೆಗಳನ್ನು ಮನೆ ಮನೆಗೆ ತಲುಪಿಸಲಾಗುತ್ತಿದೆ. #VijayaSankalpaAbhiyana #ವಿಜಯಸಂಕಲ್ಪಅಭಿಯಾನ #BJPYeBharavase pic.twitter.com/8i0BAXYHWK
— BJP Karnataka (@BJP4Karnataka) January 25, 2023
The party is also mindful of its messaging while beginning each of the campaigns. For example, the Vijaya Sankalpa campaign was launched from two prominent Lingayat mathas — the Siddaganaga matha in Tumakuru and the Jnana Yogashrama, whose pointiff Siddheshwara Swamiji passed away earlier in January.
This comes at a time the party’s internal survey has pointed to a possible loss in the BJP’s Lingayat vote share.
“The Congress has attempted to create a false narrative that the BJP is corrupt. We are changing that perception on the ground,” Ravikumar said of another key focus area.
While on their door-to-door campaign, cadres also hoist flags atop buildings of BJP leaders and workers. Wall writing, stickering for vehicles, membership drives via phone calls, distribution of pamphlets listing out schemes of the central and state governments and the number of beneficiaries, etc, are the activities listed to be carried out.
The PM Kisan minimum income scheme, weavers income support scheme are aggressively highlighted during the visits. The state government’s move to hike SC/ST reservation, re-categorisation of reservation for Lingayats and Vokkaligas too, although yet to be implemented, dominate the conversations.
Beneficiaries as ambassadors
For the first time perhaps, BJP Karnataka has no state leader to showcase as the face of the upcoming elections, especially after the sidelining of the veteran BS Yediyurappa.
The party has instead turned to Prime Minister Modi. With Modi’s name and face, the party also hopes to counter anti-incumbency against local MLAs and the Basavaraj Bommai-led state government and paper over allegations of corruption and maladministration.
“We have a target of enrolling one crore new members via the missed call drive. We are organising get-togethers in more than 58,000 booths for ‘Man Ki Baat’ on 29 January,” Ravikumar added. Man ki Baat is PM Modi’s monthly radio address.
“When we go door-to-door, we are also identifying beneficiaries of schemes unrolled by PM Modi in the last 8.5 years of our government. Also state schemes. The idea is to register the party and party symbol, rather than individual candidates,” BJP National Vice President DK Aruna, who is co-in-charge of Karnataka, told South First.
The party is reaching out to beneficiaries of central and state government schemes to make them ambassadors of “double engine government”— a claim the party makes of faster development when the same party is in power at the state and Centre.
With the beneficiaries, it is a “show and tell” on the one hand, while eliciting a feeling of “indebtedness” on the other.
Related: Divided Congress is under-confident BJP’s biggest strength
Targeting 2023 and 2024
The massive outreach exercise is helping the party practically run a combined campaign for the 2023 Assembly elections and the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
“The outreach helps us in strengthening the party and it will give us benefits in both the Assembly and Lok Sabha elections,” BJP National General Secretary CT Ravi told South First.
“Micro-targeting is something we do in all elections, for every page of the electoral roll. Preparing a key voter list, beneficiary list in each booth for outreach is the focus,” he added.
Micro-targeting of communities — Scheduled Caste (SC) sub-groups and Scheduled Tribe (ST) sub-sects — or sections (women, farmers), and groups (first-time voters, floating voters) is a more nuanced approach.
For example, the SC Morcha leaders of the party are identifying prominent SC voters in every booth who can turn influencers for the party. The Mahila Morcha of the BJP is reaching out to Muslim women as well.
“Each booth committee — comprising 12 people — has a combination of members from SC-ST, OBC, women, youth groups. We as MLAs have to ensure that the planned activity and outreach for each booth is effectively implemented,” Arvind Bellad, BJP MLA from HUbballi Dharwad told South First.
Each booth has been given specific tasks of outreach, depending on the party’s support base or lack of it.
In booths that the BJP is strong, the party is looking to increase its vote share by 15 to 20 percent. In booths that the party is weak in, the target is to improve the vote share by 50 percent.
Related: BJP may well pick up Congress’ universal income pitch
Areas of strength
“In Dakshin Kannada, Kodagu, Udupi, Chikmagalur, Dharwad, Uttar Kannada, Shivamogga, Bengaluru urban, parts of Davangere and Tumakuru, the workers don’t have to do much work. Informed voters are already in favour of the BJP,” N Ravikumar said.
“We need to put in extra effort and employ different strategies in Mandya, Hassan, Mysuru. In places like Yadgir, Bidar and Kalaburagi, it is just a matter of going the extra mile to win maximum number of seats,” he added.
DK Aruna agrees. Much like other parties, the BJP too has categorised the 224 seats in Karnataka as ‘A’, ‘B’ and ‘C’. A being sure shot victory, B where the contest can go either way, and C where the party is at its weakest.
“In B seats out outreach and resources are much stronger. Double-engine government is out pitch in these seats. We highlight the need for a resounding mandate for the BJP instead of a hung verdict. In C seats, we are welcoming cadre and leaders who want to join us from other parties. We may not have cadre in such seats but have voters and we are enhancing our footprint,” Aruna said.
