Bhubaneswar: To gear up for the next general elections and the Bijepur bypoll, the BJP held back-to-back meetings of its core committee and those in charge ("prabharis") of Lok Sabha constituencies here on Monday.
Attending the meets, Union ministers from the state - Jual Oram and Dharmendra Pradhan - focused on fine-tuning the strategy for 2019 unless the elections are pushed forward.
"Connecting with the new voters, appointment of booth prabharis and spreading the message of Prime Minister's Mann Ki Baat were among the major issues discussed," said Oram, the lone BJP Lok Sabha MP from the state.
Exuding confidence about the BJP winning the next election, Oram said the party was keen to realise national president Amit Shah's goal of winning 120 Assembly seats. He said Shah was constantly monitoring the developments in Odisha. "We have also been following-up on the agenda set by Amitji during his last few visits to the state," Oram said.
Describing Shah's Mission 120, the state has 147 Assembly seats, as a realistic target, the BJP state in-charge, Arun Singh, said the focus of Monday's deliberations was on strengthening the party organisation by mobilising new voters and building up movements on important issues in various parts of Odisha.
"As we grow from strength to strength, there are signs of the BJD's popularity declining. It seems to be scared of us," he said referring to Sunday's incident in bypoll-bound Bijepur where shots were fired at the house of a BJP leader. BJP national secretary Suresh Pujari said that the most important takeaway from Monday's meetings at the party office was the consensus on the need to mobilise the young voters and connect them with the democratic process.
"But we also discussed issues such as the condition of farmers and firing in Bijepur," he said. However, BJD general secretary, Sanjay Das Burma dismissed BJP's claim about growing in strength in the state and taunted its leadership for vacillating on the fanciful target of 120 Assembly seats it had set for itself.
"Amit Shah talked of 120 seats and then Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan scaled it down to 78. Let them clarify their stand first," he said.
