Unhappy at the reported laxity among the chiefs of ‘Shakti Kendras’ of Mangaluru and Shivamogga divisions in strengthening booth-level work, BJP chief Amit Shah has asked them to complete their tasks by March 5.

There are 5-6 booths under each ‘Shakti Kendra’ in poll-boud Karnataka.

Addressing a convention of ‘Shakti Kendra’ chiefs from the two divisions in Udupi on Wednesday, Shah said winning elections on the strengths of a wave is not always guaranteed. However, a win is a surety if the elections are fought at the booth-level.

He expressed happiness at the public response to the BJP’s rallies. But the party workers have not been equal to the task, he said.

A State-level meeting of the ‘Shakti Kendras’ had achieved little, and it is for this reason that he had called at meeting at the division level, the BJP President said.

“Your President is a chipku (sticky) kind of a person. You cannot get rid of me like that. Now you praise me. But when I come to district-level review of the progress you have made then you will start sweating. I need that much of detailing,” he said.

Shah said that while the BJP had had a vote share of only 1.3 per cent in Manipur five years ago, the party now heads a government in the State. He attributed this to the strengthening of booth-level work. In Manipur, 86 per cent of the booths had been covered before the Assembly elections last year, and in UP, the figure was at 89 per cent.

He urged the chiefs to work to strengthen the party so that it could rule from panchayat to Parliament for another 50 years.

Earlier in the day, Shah had darshan at the Sri Krishna Temple in Udupi.

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