A unique thing about Bharatiya Janata Party, the ruling party at the Centre, is that whatever is offered in its manifesto, the party makes sure to fulfill at least most of the promises, if not all of them. Interestingly, BJP is also one of those rare political parties in India, where their manifesto is not created without consulting the common masses in general. Now BJP is employing the same tactic which has given them unprecedented victories before by asking for suggestions from the citizens of Bengal and Tamil Nadu for their forthcoming election manifesto.
A couple of years ago, Bharatiya Janata Party had taken a novel route. Instead of coming out with a usual manifesto, the party members consult the common people about their needs and demands, and then draft a manifesto based upon the same. The idea was simple – to gauge how popular their decisions were, and how strong the party is on ground. This novel idea became a rage, and was extremely influential in winning BJP many elections, including the eponymous general elections of 2019.
Now BJP is aiming to emulate the success of this novel idea in Bengal and Tamil Nadu as well. BJP social media head Amit Malviya remarked, “Under the leadership of party president JP Nadda, BJP will begin the ‘Lokkho Sonar Bangla’ road campaign from Thursday. Through this campaign, our party will directly connect with the masses, and would also note down their suggestion, so that we can have a strong agenda for the next five years.”
Amit further mentioned that almost two crore people would be consulted in the process, following which the party would formulate their election manifesto based on their suggestions. This concept is just not limited to Bengal, but also extends to Tamil Nadu as well. To quote him, “The suggestions shall be collected through the help of 294 modernized LED vans. The suggestions are acceptable even through mobile and tablets. Our aim is to reach every nook and corner of Bengal, and cover at least 30000 suggestions per day.”
Earlier in 2019, BJP had employed the same tactics during the general elections, and the rest as they say, is history. Probably that is why the party wishes to increase their supporter base in the said states. What’s even better is that the suggestions shall be recorded digitally, which will not only be hassle free, but also safe for many citizens, especially in a state like Bengal, where dissent comes at the cost of one’s own life.
As such, to bring forward the idea of collecting the views of the masses in order to generate a comprehensive election manifesto for the upcoming polls to be held in Bengal and Tamil Nadu further reflects BJP’s commitment towards the cause of the nation. If executed well, this concept could turn out to be a game changer in the history of Indian politics, for which we have only BJP to thank for.