Poll harvest in 5 states, central schemes discussed at BJP meeting: Reports

The national general secretaries of the BJP on Wednesday came together for a meeting at the party's Delhi headquarters, with the discussions centred on the saffron sweep of the heartland states of Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan and an encouraging harvest in Telangana in the assembly elections last month.

While the BJP came up short to the Congress, which emerged as the largest single party, and the incumbent BRS; it doubled its vote share in Telangana from the 2018 Assembly polls, winning 8 seats.

According to party sources, the BJP top brass was 'marginally satisfied' with the increase in the overall vote share in the southern state, which saw the Congress put an end to the BRS's 10-year reign.

The BJP, with its stunning mandates in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan, stumped not just their rivals but also some pollsters who had predicted tight races in these states.

However, according to a top party source who was privy to the minutes of the meeting, the BJP high command, while expressing satisfaction with the party's resounding mandates in the heartland states, noted that they were expecting a higher vote share in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan than what was achieved.

Further, according to party sources, the three-hour-long meeting, chaired by BJP national president JP Nadda, featured national general secretaries BL Santosh, Radha Mohan Agarwal, Tarun Chugh, Vinod Tawde, and Sunil Bansal, among others.

"The primary agenda of the meeting was to analyse and assess the party performances in the five states that went to polls, take stock of the ongoing construction of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya and the welfarist projects of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) at the Centre," a source told ANI.

With regard to the Ayodhya temple, the discussions mainly centred on the consecration ceremony, which is scheduled to be held on January 22, next year, sources informed.

"During the discussions, the leaders agreed that the Ram Mandir movement is not just of the BJP or the Vishwa Hindu Parishad but one that pertains to nation-building," the source added.

Also, at the meeting, various other central schemes and initiatives such as the 'Viksit Bharat Sankalp Yatra', 'Vishwakarma Yojana Abhiyan', and 'Mera Yuva Bharat Abhiyan' were discussed, the sources informed.

"The meeting also arrived at a consensus that the birth anniversary of BJP stalwart and former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, on December 25, will be celebrated across the country henceforth," the source added.