BJP's New Chhattisgarh Poll Plan To Label Seats As "A, B, C, D"

At a meeting of the BJP's top election panel on state polls later this year, leaders divided seats in Congress-ruled Chhattisgarh into categories in a new strategy to invest more resources into seats where the ruling party is weak.

The rare election committee meeting held even before the announcement of dates for polls in five states, lasted more than two hours.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, BJP chief JP Nadda and other top leaders reportedly discussed seats in Chhattisgarh and possible candidates, aligning with caste calculations tailored to each seat, sources say.

New faces are likely to be put up in half the seats, according to reports. Caste, local issues and the party's past performance in constituencies are likely to be the parameters for choosing candidates.

Yesterday's discussions focused on 27 of 90 seats in Chhattisgarh that were divided into categories A, B,C and D, in the ascending order of difficulty level.

The "A" seats are those that the BJP won in the 2018 Chhattisgarh election.

The "B" seats are those where the BJP has both lost and won elections.

The 22 seats categorised as "C" and "D" are the most challenging for the party.

Seats where the BJP has lost twice are categorised as "C" and those where the BJP has never won are "D".

A BJP leader said the party would assign resources and leaders according to the categories. For example, in constituencies where the party is weak but does stand a chance, leaders are likely to be out in full force to turn it around.

The discussions were not conclusive and the BJP's election panel is likely to meet again.

The BJP's focused approach is seen to be a fallout of its defeat in Karnataka. Three of the states that will vote in the upcoming polls are ruled by the opposition - Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan and Telangana.