Fourteen days have passed since the Lok Sabha election results. In 10 days, the 18th Lok Sabha session will commence. As the opposition feels strengthened and aims to challenge Narendra Modi, now in his third term of governance, BJP senses the need to fortify its preparation. This explains why PM Modi visited his constituency, Varanasi, on Monday. Launching ₹20,000 crores under the Farmer Honour Fund into farmers' accounts, while in Delhi, strategies around choosing a speaker were formed at the home of the Defense Minister, Rajnath Singh.
As the opposition busies itself with proving BJP's lack of majority, BJP is preparing a 'Voter Appreciation Journey' to remind citizens that they chose Modi for an historic third term. BJP has begun meetings to assign in-charge roles for future state elections, and plans for appointing replacements for outgoing Governors are also underway. Amidst all this, the government's focus heavily weighs on villages and farmers.
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BJP Gains Strength Again
In the 543-member Lok Sabha, BJP previously had 201 rural seats; this time they secured only 126. Is this why Modi first signed off on the Farmer Honour Fund file upon securing the PM seat for a third term? And why, 14 days after the results, when first visiting Varansai, did he release the 17th installment of the Honour Fund to 9.60 crore farmers? A sum of ₹20,000 crores was allocated to farmers' accounts. BJP, perceived as an urban party, saw its electoral base in rural areas shrink, prompting it to regroup and regain its lost stronghold.
PM Visits His Constituency 10 Days Later
Recall that in 2014, PM Modi visited Varanasi three days after the election results; in 2019, he came just four days later. This time, it took 14 days — perhaps due to the need to hold coalition talks regarding the cabinet formation following a lack of full majority, and the pre-scheduled commitment at the G-7 meeting in Italy. However, there's talk that the delay in reaching Kashi was also due to the required coalition deliberation. The loss of seats contributed to the need for this careful consideration.
BJP Experienced Setbacks in Rural Areas
BJP's seat count declined predominantly in rural and semi-urban areas. Of the 543 Lok Sabha seats, 339 are rural, and 147 are semi-urban, totaling 486 seats. In the 2019 elections, BJP won 268 of these, but this time faced a direct loss of 54 seats. This figure is significant, as BJP won 63 fewer seats than in the previous elections, with 54 losses in rural and semi-urban constituencies.
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BJP's Rural Strategy
It's reported that BJP is already strategizing for election states where they didn't perform as expected, with assembly elections due this year. For instance, a core group meeting was held Monday evening to discuss Maharashtra, where both BJP and NDA suffered setbacks. Congress, Uddhav Thackeray, and Sharad Pawar's party showed significant gains there. Party leaders Amit Shah, BJP President JP Nadda, and BL Santhosh attended the meeting, along with Maharashtra's in-charge Bhupendra Yadav and co-in-charge Ashwini Vaishnav to discuss upcoming assembly elections, along with similar meetings for Jharkhand and Haryana.
State Assembly Elections Looming
The focus on farmers and villages by BJP is considered crucial to mitigating the impact of current losses in upcoming assembly elections. In Maharashtra alone, 134 of the 288 assembly seats are directly influenced by farmers. Similarly, in Haryana, farmers decide the fate of 35 of the 90 assembly seats. Jharkhand has 31 of 81 seats directly affected by the farmer electorate. Elections in these states are scheduled for this year.
BJP to Launch Voter Appreciation Journey
BJP will thank voters nationwide for electing Narendra Modi as Prime Minister for the third consecutive term by launching a 'Voter Appreciation Journey'. Through this event, BJP intends to organize festivities to recognize the public support in continuing BJP's governance. Sunil Bansal has been appointed as the in-charge of this celebration. Moreover, BJP will conduct welcome events for the ministers created under Modi 3.0. State BJP units will honor these ministers in ceremonies, celebrating their appointment in the central cabinet and expressing gratitude to PM Modi for providing them with this opportunity.
