BJP on Mission 2019 mode

BHUBANESWAR: Enthused by Narendra Modi's ascension to prime ministership and the ruling BJD getting hit by a series of scams, the state BJP has set its sights on aggressively expanding its support base in Odisha.
"We have prepared a road map for the next five years, keeping in view the lessons of the 2009 and 2014 electoral setbacks. One of the major reasons for our defeat was organizational deficiency and we plan to work hard to plug it," state BJP spokesperson Suresh Pujari told TOI, after a three-day party training programme concluded in Puri."We will make booth the local unit, instead of the panchayat," he informed.
BJP sources said the saffron party has started the process of identifying its weaknesses, especially in constituencies where the BJD or the Congress is strongly placed, and plans a series of measures to strengthen its base.
"As an initial step, we gave an ideological orientation to our party leaders, particularly those who are new, at the training," a party leader said, noting that around 50 % of the BJP candidates in the April elections were fresh recruits.
State party leaders have their work cut out as BJP national president Amit Shah is reportedly aiming to bolster the party's fortunes. In the simultaneous elections held earlier this year, the party could get one MP and 10 MLAs. "We have a long way to go if we are to become the number one party in the state. In certain constituencies we don't have suitable candidates," a senior leader admitted.
However, Modi's sustained popularity in different parts of the country during his first 100 days in power, factionalism within Congress and the Naveen government getting embroiled in the land, chit fund and discretionary quota scams have encouraged BJP to set its house in order and launch its ?Mission 2019'. "We will start a membership drive in November. On September 20, our state executive committee will meet at Patnagarh to firm up the party's strategies," Pujari said.
"In the past we have taken up different issues affecting the people, but failed to take those to their logical conclusions. We are determined to sustain our movement this time," he added. And, such movement would include preventing Naveen from ?hijacking' various central schemes and portraying Modi's 100 days with Naveen's 100 days (in his fourth term) as a picture of contrast.