The BJP has initiated a direct dialogue process with various segments of society.
New Delhi: While the Congress is yet to reconstitute its Haryana party unit—a process that is due since 2014—the Bharatiya Janata Party has started holding dialogues with intellectuals, RWAs, traders, teachers, farmers and other such groups to draft its manifesto for the Assembly elections likely to be held this year in October.
A similar direct dialogue event was held in Chandigarh where people from the trading community were present to submit their grievances and demands to the direct dialogue sub-committee formed to draft BJP’s manifesto. The direct dialogue programme for the trading community was held by a dedicated committee empowered to hold talks with the people linked to the industry, trade and commerce segment and to incorporate their demands into the party’s manifesto.
BJP spokesperson Raman Malik told The Sunday Guardian: “The BJP’s manifesto committee headed by Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Minister, O.P. Dhankar constituted 23 sub-committees on 7 July to organise many similar direct dialogue programmes that will be held in all districts of Haryana. The purpose of constituting the sub-committees is to have direct dialogue with society and to gather the views and demands from across the society, including intellectuals, farmers, RWAs, traders and teachers. The views and demands collected by these sub-committees will be assessed and further added to our manifesto. The final manifesto will be called ‘Sankalp Patra: Mere Sapno Ka Haryana’ and it will be the party’s oath and promise towards the people of Haryana in the upcoming Assembly polls.”
According to a senior Haryana BJP leader, the idea of the direct dialogue programme to draft the party’s manifesto for elections is taken from the recently concluded Lok Sabha polls where the central leadership of the party had constituted 15 sub-committees empowered to bring more cross-society views into its manifesto. The idea is being seen to have contributed to the massive success of the BJP in the Lok Sbaha polls; thus, the party wants to make it a norm.
Among those who have been given charge of committees include Union ministers, state ministers, senior legislators and parliamentarians. Haryana Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Minister Om Prakash Dhankar himself has taken charge of the two sub-committees meant for farmers and the education sector and he will be assisted by two other members—Vedpal, who is an advocate, and BJP legislator Ranbir Gangwa.
Besides the sub-committees that Dhankar is in charge of, there are 21 other sub-committees that have been formed to get help in drafting a people-centric manifesto. These sub-committees include labourers, Scheduled Castes, artisans, youths and sports, urban issues, industries, trade and commerce, the service sector, law and order and security, senior citizens, women and child development, besides others.
“All these committees have started working on their primary role to hold meetings and get views from the society. Several sub-committees have already held meetings with people. This time, the BJP is aiming to win more than 70 Assembly seats and for that, the party has started early preparations,” Malik said. Asked about the main issue in the Assembly polls in Haryana, Malik said; “It is too early to comment on that, but the party will seek votes on the development work done by Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar.”
While the BJP is too ahead in poll preparations, the Congress has seemingly not learnt any lessons from its rout in the Haryana Lok Sabha polls. The BJP won all the 10 Lok Sabha seats of the state.
On the condition of anonymity, a senior Congress leader said: “If the situation that is there in the party continues, it will win hardly any seats. There is a total absence of leadership from village to block and from district to state levels. The situation is such that even old Congress workers have started shifting towards the BJP as they see diminishing prospects in the Congress.”
However, talks for the restructuring process of the Haryana Congress unit are going on, but infighting among the party’s leaders seems to be prohibiting any progress in this direction.