The Lok Sabha election is BY Vijayendra‘s first real test of leadership as President of Karnataka unit of the BJP..
BJP's Karnataka unit chief BY Vijayendra launches Gaon Chalo drive at H Gollahalli village in Bengaluru Rural district on 8 February. (supplied)
The state BJP unit on Friday, 8 February, launched the Gaon Chalo (go to the villages) campaign, as part of its nationwide strategy ahead of the upcoming Lok Sabha polls.
The month-long campaign is part of the party’s plan to intensify its outreach in rural areas, with leaders interacting with the villagers, gauging their mood, and explaining the central government’s policies, welfare schemes and achievements.
The Karnataka BJP is also looking at increasing its vote share by at least 10 percent in the election to the Lower House of the parliament, expected to be held in April-May.
Incidentally, this is the first mass campaign after BY Vijayendra took charge as the state BJP chief. The party has set up state, cluster and constituency-level committees to monitor the Gaon Chalo drive.
Expressing scepticism, a senior BJP leader said mobilising rural votes in favour of the party is a herculean task, considering the popularity of the Congress’s guarantees.
The Congress had made five guarantees ahead of the 10 May polls, and implemented all of them by January.
In 2019, the BJP had a spectacular run in the Lok Sabha election, winning 25 out of the total 28 seats in Karnataka. leaving one each to the Congress, the JD(S) and an Independent.
The BJP’s vote share stood at a record 51.38 percent, while the Congress and the JD(S) had to settle for 31.88 percent and 9.67 percent, respectively.
After the May Assembly election, the JD(S) and the BJP allied, and would jointly be taking on the Congress.
Part of Viksit Bharat vision
The BJP has appointed its state general secretary and MLA Sunil Kumar Karakal the coordinator, and state secretary Vinay Bidare the co-convenor of the state-level committee monitoring the Gaon Chalo drive.
“Gram Chalo for Viksit Bharat “
‘Gram Chalo Abhiyan’ launched by Prime Minister Shri @narendramodi ji and BJP National President Shri @JPNadda ji, to be conducted for 3 days from Feb 9th to 11th, was kickstarted today in Gollahalli village of Yeshvanthapura Assembly… pic.twitter.com/TX5kZQ8aoP
— Vijayendra Yediyurappa (@BYVijayendra) February 8, 2024
“This is a nationwide drive. It is the first party programme to reach out to the voters ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls,” BJP spokesperson Mahesh G told South First.
Terming the drive an extension of the Viksit Bharat vision, he said Vijayendra kick-started the campaign.
While presenting the interim Union Budget in Parliament on 1 February, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said the government’s vision for ‘Viksit Bharat’ is that of a “prosperous Bharat in harmony with nature, with modern infrastructure, and providing opportunities for all citizens and all regions to reach their potential”.
She expressed hope that the vision would be achieved by 2047, the 100th year of Indian independence.
28,000 villages on BJP radar
Explaining the activities, Mahesh said the party leaders would visit 28,000 Karnataka villages during the month-long drive.
“The party leaders have been tasked with three activities during the drive: Visit and interact with the beneficiaries of the Union government schemes and programmes, visit every Dalit house and assess the Centre’s performance at the panchayat level,” he said.
To a specific query on the possible outcome of the drive, the spokesperson said the party was aiming to increase its vote share by at least 10 percent in the Lok Sabha elections.
“The party workers must ensure at least 50 percent of the votes in each booth came to the BJP,” he further said.
According to the Election Commission notification issued for the two-phased 2019 polls, Karnataka had 58,186 polling stations, up seven percent from 54,265 in 2014.
“This is a door-to-door campaign. The drive is likely to conclude before the election code of conduct comes into force,” Mahesh explained.
“The party is also planning to hold one mega convention in each cluster as a part of the drive. This is yet to be finalised. We are confident of winning more than 25 seats in the upcoming elections,” he said.
Guarantee blues for BJP
Despite the ambitious Gaon Chalo campaign, mobilising the rural votes in its favour would be a tough task for the BJP due to the popularity of the Congress’s guarantees, benefitting 1.5 crore people in the state.
The BJP would be trying to convince the voters to back the party, despite the guarantees benefitting them.
“The Congress’s guarantees have reached the rural areas. It is a challenge for us to convince the beneficiaries to change their vote and choose BJP this time. The Modi factor will work but we need more work to wean beneficiaries of Guarantees away from Congress,” a senior BJP leader told South First.
“Our task is to reclaim the rural votes that had gone to the Congress in the Assembly elections,” the leader said.
Launching the campaign, Vijayendra said more than 42,000 party workers would take part in the drive. “The rural areas should be developed to fulfil Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s dream of making India a developed country,” he said.
“With this drive, the party workers will reach every village and house. We will also ensure that the Union government’s programmes are reaching every house. The BJP will completely sweep the Lok Sabha elections Karnataka,” Vijayendra exuded confidence.
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