New Delhi: Virtually assured of a second term at the recent national executive in Mumbai, BJP president Nitin Gadkari has started work on galvanising the party rank and file for the forthcoming Assembly elections and the Lok Sabha polls.
Sources close to Gadkari said he has taken serious note of the concerns voiced by senior leader LK Advani at the conclave and later on his blog that BJP does not appear to be in a position where it would be considered a viable alternative to those who want to vote out the UPA.
"Gadkari will begin implementing his plans - which now extend beyond the December 2012 deadline he had earlier set - with a series of meetings with chiefs of BJP Morchas (fronts) and Cells this week", a party leader close to him told a news agency.
The BJP core group, the second highest decision-making body of the party after the Parliamentary Board, will hold fortnightly meetings now under Gadkari`s leadership.
"There is a growing feeling in the party that the Lok Sabha elections may be held before 2014 and the party should not be caught napping and be unprepared in such a scenario", a BJP leader said.
The Assembly election results in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand are considered to have come as a wake-up call for the party. Gadkari has turned wiser after some of the wrong decisions taken in these polls and would also like to deal more firmly with infighting and other issues which have hampered its performance, he said.
A reshuffle in the organisation - which Gadkari plans to do gradually to avoid ruffling feathers - is part of the plans, the sources said.
The BJP president has convened a meeting on June 6 of heads of party fronts like Mahila Morcha, SC/ST Morcha and the like to take stock of their work. The Mazdoor Mahasangh, which was formed recently, has also been asked to be present.
This will be followed by a meeting with conveners and co-conveners of the 70-odd Cells of BJP on June 7. Gadkari intends to reach out to the electorate through the work of the morchas and Cells which are involved in various activities, the BJP leader said.
The Jan Sangarsh Abhiyan - from June 7 to 22 - across the country will help the party to galvanise the people against the UPA government on issues such as price rise, attack on federal structure by the Centre and rising price of petrol.
The forthcoming elections in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh later this year as well as in Karnataka, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan will be the main focus of Gadkari`s plans before the polls.
"In most of these states, BJP is in power and this makes it a prestige issue for us. Losing polls in these states may prove detrimental to the party in the Lok Sabha polls which are scheduled to be held after the Assembly polls", a BJP leader said.
Gadkari is likely to appoint new party in-charges for the states which go to polls, sources said, adding, a revamp in the organisational set-up in the states is also in the offing.
PTI
