BJP to rope in govt scheme beneficiaries

Pratibha Chauhan

Tribune News Service

Shimla, February 10

The BJP seems to be opening a pandora’s box by deciding to declare beneficiaries of both state and Central Government schemes as “Mera Parivaar - BJP Parivaar.”

The scheme, to be launched from February 12 to March 2, is primarily aimed to woo the electorate ahead of the Lok Sabha poll. The state BJP Executive met here today to chalk out the election strategy and party programmes to be launched all over the state ahead of the poll.

Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur, state BJP chief Satpal Singh Satti, former Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur, ministers, party MPs Virender Kashyap from Shimla and Ramswaroop from Mandi, besides senior party functionaries, attended the meeting.

Party sources said 8 lakh families had been identified who had benefited. “The details of all such beneficiaries from various departments have been sought and the each BJP Mandal had been asked to reach out to each family,” said sources.

It is probably for the first time that such an initiative has been taken by any political party to declare beneficiaries of government schemes as their parivaar. The programme could as such rake up a controversy.

State BJP president Satpal Singh Satti denied that there was anything unethical in such programme as it was Modi’s initiative which had helped the poor.

“There is no compulsion for people who have benefited to put a BJP flag atop their houses, but, yes, the BJP workers will try to convince them to do so,” he said. The families, which already believe in the BJP ideology and have benefited, will put a flag while others will be convinced to do so.Among other programmes include “Bharat ke Man Ki Baat, Modi ke Saath” from February 5 to March 4, “Panna Pramukh Sammelan” of Kangra Lok Sabha seat on February 24, “Kamal Jyoti Sankalp Programme” from February 26 at booth level, “Mera booth sabse mazboot” from February 28 in which mandal level workers will have a dialogue with the PM and on March 2, there will be a bike rally of the Bhartiya Janta Yuva Morcha. The BJP is going into election mode in full swing to ensure that it retains its control over all four Lok Sabha seats which it had won for the first time in 2014 poll.