Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Chief, Amit Shah held a party meeting in Maharashtra on Sunday. He addressed the party workers and according to sources have instructed them to be prepared to ‘go solo’ in the upcoming 2019 Lok Sabha elections and Assembly polls in the state.
After the increasing rift between the allies–BJP and Shiv Sena, BJP is set to contest the elections alone if needed. Shiv Sena had already announced that it will fight the 2019 elections alone.
There was no official comment made by BJP on the issue. A senior BJP leader who attended the meeting quoting Shah said, “We should be prepared to fight alone in 2019. You should start preparing now so that in your booths 51 percent voters vote for BJP.”
On demanding anonymity, a BJP leader as reported by The Indian Express commented, “The meeting was to review poll preparations and measures to expand the electoral base of the organization in Maharashtra. The thrust was on making deeper inroads across 48 Lok Sabha seats and 288 Assembly seats in Maharashtra.”
The party chief decided in the meeting that for all 48 Lok Sabha constituencies in Maharashtra, an able leader will be appointed. The party termed these leaders as “vistaraks”. These “vistaraks” will also be appointed for the 288 Assembly seats. The party will soon reveal the name of these 48 leaders appointed for each constituency.
Going solo might work in favour of BJP since Shiv Sena has been quite vocal in condemning its current ally. Sena also abstained from voting during the no-confidence motion and the MPs remained absent. The party also praised Rahul Gandhi for his embrace of Modi.