The BJP’s national executive meet, to be held here on Friday and Saturday, is expected to draw up an action plan to strengthen the party in the South, East and North-East.
“The party has identified seven States — Assam, West Bengal, Odisha, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Kerala — where it does not have a strong presence,” said P Muralidhar Rao, the BJP’s national general secretary and party’s in charge of Karnataka affairs.
The national executive will also discuss threadbare budget-related issues on social security. “Social security issues which are not even related to the Budget will also come up for discussion.
“Programmes announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi will also be taking up for discussion,” Rao said.
According to him, the Bengaluru meet will be remembered for the national executive taking historic steps, 10 months after coming to power at the Centre. “The two-day national executive meet will be creating programmes or deciding on programmes after threadbare discussions within the party. It is not an image building exercise, but party management,” said Rao.
The party has enrolled a record 8.8 crore members in the country. The meet will also discuss further consolidation.
The BJP will also chalk out programmes to celebrate the birth centenary of party mentor Deen Dayal Upadhya. His political philosophy of ‘integral humanism’ will be discussed by the party’s national executive.
Prahlad Joshi, BJP Karnataka president, said about 330 office bearers — including 33 top leaders — will be attending the meeting.
“This is the first national executive after the BJP came to power, propelling Narendra Modi and Amit Shah to the two top posts,” he said.
Bouncing backRao, addressing reporters, said the party is slowly bouncing back after its disastrous Delhi elections. “We are preparing for the upcoming Delhi local body polls,” he said.
To a question on how the party plans to storm southern States like Tamil Nadu and Kerala, where it has little electoral base, Rao explained that it has made a good beginning and enrolled 35 lakh new members in Tamil Nadu and 20 lakh in Kerala.
Electoral debacles for a political party are a “normal thing”, he said, adding that fortunes don’t begin or end with Delhi polls.