RATHIRAM PAL, 40, is a paan kiosk owner in the Banganga area of Bhopal. For the last 15 years, he has also been the BJP booth president for polling booth 120 in the Bhopal South-West assembly constituency. It is a role he has performed with pride. Now, he has reason to be extra proud. The BJP candidate from the constituency, Bhagwandas Sabnani, won from Pal's booth with a margin of 200 votes though only 830 of around 1,400 votes were polled.
"I have always been impressed by the pro-poor steps taken by the BJP and [Chief Minister] Shivraj Singh Chouhan ji," he said. "And, when [Narendra] Modi ji became the prime minister, my faith in the party increased further. I will work for the party for the rest of my life, regardless of returns."
The BJP in the state has 64,253 such booth presidents, who are part of a far bigger ground network of the party that has people in charge of every page in the voter list (panna pramukhs). These foot soldiers went to work diligently, months ahead of the November 17 polls, to ensure the BJP's victory at every level-all possible booths and wards.
Pawan Narwaria, president of the Tagore mandal (zone), under whom Pal works, said that the ground-level workers, such as Pal, were the party's real assets. They maintain direct contact with the voters, not only for election-related endeavours, but also at a personal level. They meet voters regularly, keep track of their well-being and stand with them when required. They also keep them informed about welfare schemes and ensure they become beneficiaries, make them aware of the negatives of opposition parties and finally motivate them to come out and vote for the kamal ka phool (lotus symbol) on election day.
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