NEW DELHI: Top leaders of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its parent organisation Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) will review the performance of the party government at the centre and the party’s prospects.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP president Amit Shah and senior federal ministers belonging to the BJP will be engaged in a brainstorming three-day session starting Wednesday.
Shah is said to be worried that he may be pulled up by the RSS bosses for the party’s failure at properly conveying achievements of the 15-month-old Modi government.
The Modi government was forced to drop its ambitious Land Acquisition Bill following bad publicity as the party failed to convince the public the real purpose of the contentious land bill.
A worried Shah called for a meeting with senior federal ministers belonging to the BJP at the party’s central office on Tuesday to discuss why the Modi government was getting negative publicity despite doing a “good job”.
Sources in the BJP said that senior RSS leaders who had handpicked Modi as the BJP’s prime ministerial candidate and his close associate Shah as BJP president may express their anguish at the conclave, expected to be held at a yet undisclosed location near the national capital.
“No doubt that RSS is unhappy with some of the recent political developments and party’s failure to tackle these issues effectively,” BJP sources said.
He cited Modi government’s failure to resolve the one-rank-one-pension scheme for the agitating ex-servicemen so far and the manner the Patidar agitation grew in Modi and Shah’s home state Gujarat. The Patel community demanding benefits of reservation has become a pain in the neck of the party which may impact its prospects in the 2017 Gujarat assembly elections.
The conclave is also expected to take stock of the upcoming Bihar assembly elections. RSS had identified Bihar along with Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal and Assam as the states BJP could come to power with proper work and strategies.
Modi has so far addressed five rallies in Bihar and he and Shah may brief the select gathering prospects of the party in Bihar where it is locked in a close battle with erstwhile ally Janata Dal (United) and its partners Rashtriya Janata Dal and the Congress party.
Shah had named a new panel of party spokesperson sometime back. However, their effectiveness in communicating Modi government’s achievements is bound to be debated at the conclave particularly in light of the fact that those responsible in BJP for communications are now ministers in the Modi government.
The party had earlier decided to ask its federal lawmakers and ministers to go to the public to convey achievements of the Modi government after it completed one year in office in May this year. The plan, however, did not bring the desired results.
