Winning String Of Elections Next Year BJP's Top Agenda At Key Sunday Meet

Strategies to win a string of assembly elections next year will be a top priority agenda at the BJP's national executive meeting on Sunday. The results of by-elections in several states earlier this week showed that the Congress had clawed back some lost ground, but the opposition's advance wasn't significant enough to make the BJP worried. Still, the BJP at the crucial Sunday meeting will study in detail how the party is doing in states like West Bengal, Himachal Pradesh and Rajasthan.

This will be the BJP's first national executive meeting after JP Nadda took over as party chief. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will also address leaders of his party on Sunday.

"In view of the ongoing COVID-19 protocols, all state presidents, state general secretaries (organisation) and national executive members of that respective state will attend the meeting virtually from their respective state party offices," the BJP said in a communication to all its state units.

The bypoll results in three Lok Sabha and 29 assembly seats across 13 states and a Union Territory may weigh on the minds of the party leadership. Though the BJP is in power in Himachal Pradesh, the Congress's winning the Lok Sabha bypoll and three assembly seats has caused concern in the party.

Assembly elections will be held early next year in five states -- Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Goa and Manipur. Elections in Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat will be held in late 2022. Except Punjab, the BJP is in power in all these states.

Price rise may have been a factor in recent bypoll setback, news agency PTI reported quoting an unnamed BJP leader. The Modi government has, however, done a course correction by cutting petrol and diesel prices in the festival season, followed by BJP-ruled states that reduced state sales tax.