Aiming For 400 Seats, BJP Sets Up Panel To Recruit Opposition MPs: Sources

Having set itself a mammoth target of winning 400 of the 543 Lok Sabha seats in the upcoming elections, the BJP is looking at all avenues, including bringing in leaders from other parties, to achieve it, sources have told NDTV.

At an important strategy meeting held on Tuesday, BJP President JP Nadda assigned different responsibilities to various general secretaries of the party. BJP General Secretary Vinod Tawde has been given charge of the joining committee.

"This committee will explore the possibility of bringing influential leaders and sitting MPs from other parties to the BJP. The decision will be taken based on the person's influence in the constituency and his or her ability to win elections," a source said, adding that the party may explore this option particularly in seats where it does not feel it has a candidate capable of winning. 

This decision also ties in with the party's focus on 160 seats that it lost during the last election. 

The only time a single party has crossed the 400 figure in the Lok Sabha was the Congress, led by Rajiv Gandhi, in 1984. That election was also the last time a party had won a majority on its own until the Narendra Modi-led BJP stormed into power in 2014.

Other Responsibilities

Party General Secretary Radhamohan Das Aggarwal has been entrusted with the task of making the vision document for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

The election campaign, publicity and other related work will be looked after by Sunil Bansal and other general secretaries, while Dushyant Gautam will organise conferences of Buddhists across the country and tell them about the work carried out by the Narendra Modi government.

BJP chief Nadda held the meeting with party general secretaries and Union ministers Dharmendra Pradhan, Bhupendra Yadav, Ashwini Vaishnaw and Mansukh Mandaviya. Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma also joined through video conferencing.