Spreading Saffron

The BJP, under Amit Shah, has started preparing aggressively for the 2019 general elections

- Pratul Sharma

With two years left for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP has begun its groundwork in earnest. Taking a cue from the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, the party is looking to expand, especially in areas where it is weak.

While other political parties, including the Congress, have been reeling under massive defeats, the BJP has been busy making plans for the electoral battles ahead. The planning, coupled with an aggressive nationalistic campaign, has ensured that the party has stayed ahead of its rivals.

The party’s latest plan, helmed by president Amit Shah, is to prepare an army of volunteers, called vistaraks, who can work full-time at the grassroots level. The BJP has enrolled about 3.8 lakh volunteers, of which 3.78 lakh have signed up to work for 15 days, 1,441 for six months and 2,470 for one year. The party would send these volunteers to areas where it needs to strengthen its organisation. “These vistaraks would go to different parts of the country and would educate people on the government’s policies,” Human Resource Development Minister Prakash Javadekar said. The vistarak plan is similar to that of the RSS, which enrols students and volunteers who work for at least 15 days in areas other than their own. They lay the groundwork for the RSS to open shakhas there. In 2016, according to RSS figures, it had enrolled 14,592 vistaraks.

The BJP is also observing the birth centenary of its ideologue Deen Dayal Upadhyaya, and would distribute a special folder highlighting his ideology to every voter in the country. The plan was unveiled at the BJP’s two-day national executive meet in Bhubaneswar on April 15.