With Back-To-Back Core Group Meetings, BJP Clears Its North-South Plan For 'Mission 400'; Party To Focus On Lost Seats

The core-group meeting focussed on lost seats while devising plans to strengthen the BJP's presence in states like West Bengal and Telangana.

In the run-up to the Lok Sabha Elections 2024, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has cleared its strategy on how it wants to move forward from north to south. The party held the core group meetings of five states - Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, West Bengal and Telangana - yesterday where it discussed strategy for 175 Parliamentary seats and also decided to announce the first list of 100 candidates including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah. During the meeting, Shah, BJP president JP Nadda and BJP's organization general secretary BL Santosh, P Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya, and Brijesh Pathak were present. The BJP-led NDA is aiming to win over 400 Lok Sabha seats this time with the saffron party hoping to bag 370 seats on its own.

Focus On UP, Lost Seats

The BJP has identified at least 160 Parliamentary seats that it lost in 2019 and has a strong chance of winning those seats. During the meeting, the party also discussed the seats it lost in Uttar Pradesh. The party has prepared a special strategy for the Rae Bareli and Mainpuri seats. There was also a discussion regarding MLC elections. The 80 seats of the Uttar Pradesh is key to boosting the saffron party's tally and with the inauguration of the Ram Temple, the BJP is looking to clean sweep the polls this year. Of the 18 seats that the BJP lost in 2019, it finalized candidates for 14 of them in the meeting. These seats are Ghazipur, Ghosi, Nagina, Saharanpur, Bijnor, Amroha, Shrawasti, Ambedkar Nagar, Lalganj, Jaunpur, Mainpuri, Muradabad, Sambhal and Raebareli. The BJP state leadership has already submitted a list of candidates for these seats to party leadership.

'Way To Bengal'

For West Bengal, the BJP discussed all the 42 Lok Sabha seats in the presence of State President Sukanta Majumdar, Suvendu Adhikari and other leaders. The BJP is keeping a close eye on 35 out of 42 Lok Sabha seats in Bengal. The vandalism that took place in Sandesh Khali was also specifically discussed with Home Minister Amit Shah and other core group members who were present in the meeting. The party also plans to woo the Bengal voters with PM Modi's rally. PM Modi is likely to address a rally in Arambag district on March 1 and in Krishnanagar on March 2. 

Cementing Foot In Southern State

During the third meeting, the Telangana Core Group convened a meeting attended by key figures such as Union Minister G. Kishan Reddy, D.K. Aruna, Dr K. Lakshan, Bandi Sanjay, and Atla Rajendra. The Bharatiya Janata Party has decided to independently contest 17 Lok Sabha seats in Telangana, where it currently holds four MPs. The meeting focused on strategizing to secure a majority in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections and reviewing the seats that were lost in previous elections.

Chhattisgarh -Maintaining Winning Run

The BJP has returned to power in Chhattisgarh and is looking to maintain its winning run in the Parliamentary polls as well. During the fourth gathering, the Chhattisgarh Core Group convened a meeting attended by Chief Minister Vishnu Deo and other prominent leaders. The focus of the meeting centred on deliberations on introducing new faces to the political landscape. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) specifically explored the possibility of fielding candidates from the Schedule Tribes (ST) in four seats. Additionally, in-depth discussions were conducted regarding the Korba and Bastar seats, which the BJP had lost in the 2019 elections. Further considerations were given to potential new candidates for the Janjgir, Mahasamund, Raipur, Kanker, and Rajnandgaon Lok Sabha seats.

'Run For Rajasthan'

In the fifth phase, a meeting of the Rajasthan Core Group was called.  Rajasthan Chief Minister Bhajan Lal Sharma, Deputy Chief Ministers Diyakumari and Premchand Bairwa, state in-charge Arun Singh, co-in-charge Vijay Rahatkar, and former Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje, leaders Rajendra Rathod, and Satish Poonia were present in the meeting. A discussion was held in the meeting regarding all 25 Lok Sabha seats in the state. Candidates can be declared for 7-9 seats in the first list by the party.