In his first visit to Manipur since taking over the reins from Amit Shah, BJP national president JP Nadda is on a two-day tour of the state which will see elections in the first half of 2022. Apart from holding a public meeting on Saturday, Nadda also met the party’s MPs, MLAs and other functionaries in a closed-door meeting.
The discussion in the meeting was simple and direct —- work for better coordination between the party and the government. It has been stressed that a lot of good work is being done by the government in Manipur, which is a border state, and a number of key initiatives are being taken by the central government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi that are beneficial towards the people of the north-east and Manipur in particular. These initiatives need to be highlighted and people have to be told about how the beneficiaries actually have been able to receive what the government has promised.
The need to strengthen the party at the grassroots level was once again stressed upon, including strengthening of the booths. “Mera Booth Sabse Mazboot” was an initiative that was started by the former party president and present Home Minister Amit Shah in 2014 when he came to the Centre from Gujarat and since then, it has reaped huge benefits for the BJP across the country in the various elections, including in Bengal where the party of three MLAs grew to 77.
Nadda assured the party leaders that the Modi government’s focus, unlike any other government in the past, has been on seeing the rise of Northeast, which is the most backward revision area in the country and has been ignored for decades.
Sources privy to the meeting also tell CNN-News18 that Amit Shah is likely to visit the state either towards the end of October or early November. A visit by PM Modi is also on the cards, details for which are being worked out.
With the visit of Nadda, the official campaign of the BJP in Manipur has begun. The BJP’s national president will be inaugurating multiple party offices, including one in the state capital Imphal. He is also slated to have a meeting with intellectuals and prominent citizens of Manipur, apart from holding a number of organisation meetings.
Election in-charge Bhupender Yadav, co-incharge Pratima Bhowmik and Ashok Singhal, along with state in-charge Dr Sambit Patra, Manipur CM N Biren Singh will be with Nadda in these meetings.
The saffron party is gearing up for the upcoming Manipur assembly polls and has set itself a target of getting two-third majority and 40 out of 60 seats in the polls. The Biren Singh-led BJP unit is seeking its second term there.
Leading the NDA government, Biren Singh on March 15, 2017 formed the government in Manipur and took the oath. Later, four new ministers were added to his cabinet.
