BJP targets 20 per cent local body wards; Amit Shah to monitor poll strategy

KOCHI: Amid the vote theft allegations raised by the Congress and the Left parties, the BJP is toiling at the grassroot level to enrol party sympathisers in the voters list for the upcoming local body elections in Kerala. And the master strategist behind the preparations: Union Home Minister Amit Shah, who is set to visit the state on Friday. Amit Shah ji had given us some assignments during his visit to Thiruvananthapuram in July. He will review the progress of our work on Friday, a senior BJP leader said. This will be a continuous process. He will be reviewing the election preparations on a monthly basis. The BJP has drawn up an ambitious plan to win at least 20% of the local body wards in the state. The party hopes to capture power in Thiruvananthapuram and Thrissur corporations, 25 municipalities including Palakkad, Tripunithura and Pandalam and around 300 panchayats. On Friday, Shah will address a gathering of core committee members, state-level office-bearers, state presidents of Morchas, regional organising secretaries, district prabharis and presidents at hotel Renai in Kochi. State prabhari Prakash Javadekar and assistant prabhari Aparajitha Sarangi will participate in the meeting which will formulate the action plan for election preparations. The BJP lost many wards by fewer than 25 votes in the 2020 Kerala local body elections. Besides, the party had secured the lead in many panchayats in districts like Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Alappuzha, Thrissur and Palakkad in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. Special attention is being given to these panchayats and the presidents of the partys 30 organisational districts have been tasked with identifying party strongholds and inspiring party supporters to involve themselves actively in the preparations. The election results do not reflect our real influence as many of our supporters are armchair strategists. Besides, thousands have joined the party through our online platform. If we can bring all of them to the polling booth, the result can be amazing. We have reconstituted the ward-level committees and the process of enrolling people in the voters list is progressing, the BJP leader said. The party had gained power in 22 panchayats and two municipalities in the previous elections. It has around 1,200 ward members in the state. Party sources said the preparations for assembly elections will start only after the local body polls. It is learnt that around 20 senior leaders have identified their constituencies and have started preparations at the ground level. Local bodies in Kerala No of panchayats: 941 Wards: 17,337 Municipalities: 87 Wards: 3,241 Corporations: 6 Divisions: 421 Block panchayats: 152 Wards: 2,267 District panchayats: 14 Wards: 346 BJPs power target 300 panchayats 25 municipalities two corporations