BJP's target is to form govt in T'gana in 2023: Chouhan

Buoyed by BJP's impressive gains in Telangana in the recent Lok Sabha elections, former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan Wednesday said the party's next target was to capture power in the state in 2023 assembly polls.

Describing the good performance in West Bengal and Telangana as "very significant", he said BJP was not satisfied with it and was aiming at forming governments in states where it was not in power.

"Our next target is formation of BJP government in Telangana in 2023," Chouhan, vice-president of BJP, told reporters here.

After a dismal show in the assembly polls held in December last year when it won only one of the 119 segments, BJP pulled off a surprise in the Lok Sabha elections, bagging four of the 17 seats in the state.

Chouhan thanked the people of Telangana for showering their love and blessings on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP.

He flayed Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao for skipping the NITI Aayog meeting in Delhi, not functioning from the Secretariat and also "for not implementing" central schemes such as the 'Ayushman Bharat' in the state.

The government advisor on 'Vastu' issues had been given the status of a minister in the state, he said.

Alleging that Rao was engaged in "marketing" himself, he said the TRS government's advertisements appear in newspapers even in Madhya Pradesh.

Chouhan, who is the party's "pramukh" (convener) for membership drive, said the campaign would begin on July 6, the birth anniversary of Syama Prasad Mukherjee and continue till August 11.

BJP would reach out to all sections of people including those working in different professions in membership enrolment, he added.