The ruling BJP at the Centre has made it clear that recovery of Punjab from its current financial decline was top government and party priority and going forward all strategies, policy and political, would be aligned to this goal.
At the first brainstorming meeting which Union Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP national president Nitin Nabin chaired last night in Delhi on Punjab election strategy, both leaders told the state brass to gear up to “go it all and fight all 117 seats".
Shah also told the participating leaders to work hard on the ground to “win the hearts of people and disseminate the party’s narrative across towns and villages."
“Punjab cannot be left to its fate, it has to be saved and restored to its old glory," Shah is learnt to have said at the meeting which lasted for two hours (8.30 PM to 10.30 PM) at the BJP headquarters.
Punjab’s economic morass as indicated by its debt data, drug menace problems, law and order, religious conversions, and soil health depletion figured prominently in the meeting, with leaders saying that the urgent requirement was to save Punjab from its current “economic morass".
The top challenge of getting people to trust the saffron narrative also came up, with Shah and Nabin asking BJP cadres to work hard to “win people’s hearts."
Shah gave an example of how the BJP had fixed the economy and law and order challenges in every state it has governed, from Gujarat to Uttar Pradesh and now Bengal.
“There is no greater need for a double engine government anywhere more than in Punjab," said sources who attended, with the BJP today kick-starting its national outreach in the state.
Union Housing Minister ML Khattar is visiting Amritsar today. The Tribune was the first to report recently that all union ministers will come to Punjab as part of Shah led outreach, with Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal set to arrive after Khattar.
Nitin Nabin will be in Punjab from June 20 to 22 and will visit Ludhiana and Amritsar besides participating in a Yoga Day event in a border area in Amritsar. Nabin’s detailed programme is being finalised.
Before meeting the state leaders yesterday, Amit Shah had met with Punjab Governor Ghulab Chand Kataria and discussed the Punjab ground situation and challenges.
Yesterday’s meeting was attended by BJP state president Kewal Dhillon, former state chiefs Sunil Jakhar, Avinash Rai Khanna, Shwait Malik, union minister Ravneet Bittu, former Punjab minister Manoranjan Kalia, Ashwani Sharma, BJP national general secretary and Rajya Sabha MP Tarun Chugh, parliamentary board member Iqbal Singh Lalpura, former Punjab minister Manpreet Badal, Fateh Singh Bajwa, state BJP general secretary Parminder
Brar and Punjab women’s wing president Jai Inder Kaur.
From the organisational side, senior RSS functionaries — Saudan Singh who handles northern states; Mantri Srinivasulu, BJP general secretary organisation for Punjab and Narinder Raina were present.
