Amid speculation of simultaneous polls to the Lok Sabha and State Assemblies, BJP president Amit Shah’s day-long visit to the city on Friday is seen as hard pitch to revitalise the party rank and file.
During his less-than-12-hour visit, Mr. Shah’s itinerary is packed with a series of meetings with not only the State BJP leadership but also top leaders of the RSS and other frontal organisations of the party. The party national chief will arrive at the Begumpet airport by a special flight from Patna at 10.30 a.m.
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Serious affair
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On arrival, he will be given a welcome by State leaders, Mr. Shah will briefly address party workers at the airport. Thereafter, it is going to be a serious affair as he will be huddled with BJP and RSS leadership to assess the party’s preparedness for the 2019 general elections.
Party sources said he would attend RSS Parivar Baithak at a hotel on Raj Bhavan Road where 47 select leaders of the BJP, RSS and its frontal organisations will participate. But, the most crucial meeting, party leaders say, Mr. Shah will attend is at the party office in the afternoon.
“The meeting Mr. Amit Shah will chair at the party office is very important. He will first interact with 107 Vistaraks (persons who spread the message of the organisation) assigned for the Assembly constituencies. But, his closed-door meeting with 17 Lok Sabha constituency incharges is going to give a insight into where the party stands at the present juncture,” sources said.
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Another meeting will see the State BJP leaders making a PowerPoint presentation on the socio-political situation in Telangana and how to tackle media houses. With another presentation, the party is expected to highlight where it has the potential to perform well. Party leaders maintained that they had identified 62 Assembly constituencies where the party had a good base and hopes to do well in at least 35 of them.
Sampark Abhiyan
Interestingly, Mr. Amit Shah is expected to meet chairman of Ramoji Group Ch Ramoji Rao, promoter of TV 9 news channel Srini Raju and tennis player Saina Nehwal as part of the Sampark Abhiyan.
It is understood that the BJP leaders are surprised at the choice of personalities Mr. Shah is meeting on Friday. “None of the three has any connection with Telangana and at least two of them have clear political leanings with parties other than the BJP. While one is said to be close to a political party in the neighbouring State, the TV channel owned by another person has rubbed the right wing party on the wrong side by taking up issues considered derogatory to the majority community. Later in the night, Mr Shah will leave for New Delhi.