The BJP’s initiative to promote Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Atmanirbhar Bharat programme through Internet platforms seems to have failed in Bengal as the plan to hold a series of online meetings over a fortnight had to be abandoned on the third day, said a source.

“Not enough people could be connected online during the meetings. Some of the meetings were started and then abandoned. Later, the idea was scrapped entirely,” said the source on condition of anonymity.

In the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, the BJP had started online meetings and conferences to avoid physical contacts. According to multiple sources in the BJP, the state unit was supposed to hold 20 virtual meetings daily, one for each of the 294 Assembly constituencies, for 15 days.

The meetings were to be held through an online video conferencing platform called Webex. It was mandated by the party’s central leadership that a minimum of 600 and a maximum of 1000 people should be connected at each of the meetings.

However, not more than a few of hundreds could be reached, said a source.

A section in the party blamed Raju Banerjee, a state BJP vice-president, who was in-charge of organising these conferences, for the failure. Other leaders said the low turnout at the virtual meetings indicated poor organisational penetration and failure in understanding the real situation in the districts.

“We were told that the virtual conferences are very important and the central leaders will monitor the drive. But the question is whether we achieved the target?” asked a leader.

Talking to The Telegraph, Banerjee accepted that the programme had to be cancelled since the desired number of audience couldn’t be reached. However, according to him, poor internet connectivity in different parts of the state is to blame for this situation.

“The programme has not been cancelled. We were forced to defer it because of no or poor internet connection in the interiors of the state,” Banerjee said.

He added that most people at the villages first need to be tutored properly on how to use online conferencing platforms.
Despite the shortcomings, Banerjee said, the meetings will commence again in a few days.

“The failure of the online meetings prove again that our assessment of the ground situation in Bengal is wrong,” said a source.