Life risk for BJP workers in Bastar, Kerala: BJP Prez Kaushik

     Jagdalpur, September 30, 2016: Targetting 2018 Assembly election, BJP has started drafting a foolproof strategy to capture power for the fourth time in Chhattisgarh, even as its state President Dharamlal Kaushik sought to equate the condition for party workers in Bastar and Kerala as life risk.

     “The condition of the party workers in Kerala and Bastar are the same. And in both the places, the BJP workers are engaged in organizational activities without caring for their life,” Kaushik told a party meeting at the Bastar regional headquarters Jagdalpur.

     In the national Executive, concluded yesterday, BJP State President said “Despite being in an adverse condition, cadre in Bastar region are working for the party and even laying down their life for the BJP and the state.”

     It was the party workers dedication, because of which BJP was today in power in the state, he added.

     In the year 2003 BJP, through its state executive held at Bastar, had assured the people to bring normalcy in the region if voted to power and out of 12 assembly seats, the saffron party bagged 11 seats of the region and wrested power from the Congress in 2003 election.

     However, after Jhiram incident, in which entire Congress leadership was wiped out on May 25, 2013, local people voted against the BJP in 2013-poll and Congress got eight seats.

      It was because of Bastar, Digvijay Singh got the second chance to rule in undivided Madhya Pradesh in the year 1998 (Chhattisgarh was created on November 1, 2000) and both the Congress and the BJP are now trying hard to convince the voters of the under developed tribal region of Chhattisgarh, where Maoists and lack of development are the biggest challenges before the people.

     Sensing that the people could swing either side, the ruling party has again got back to Bastar with a slogan BJP could only bring peace in the violence hit Bastar as it was now ruling in both the Centre and the state.

    “Whether Bastar or across the border of India, our jawans will strike in all those places to eliminate Maoists and terrorists,” amid applause from the party workers Chief Minister Dr Raman Singh told the meeting and assured the people of Bastar to restore peace in the region, while congratulating Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Indian Army for the surgical strike in Pakistan territory.

     Touching another point, BJP National Joint General Secretary Soudan Singh has directed all the MLAs and Ministers to hold grievance meeting in all the places to solve the problems of the people as “people are emotionally attached to the party and they have to be taken care up”.

     Chhattisgarh BJP has picked up Bastar as its venue for the state Executive body meeting after 13 years as the party had realized out of 12 assembly seats of the region it has only four MLAs this time, where as in eight places people preferred Congress as On May 25, 2013 top Congress leaders, including then PCC Chief Nand Kumar Patel, his son, Dinesh, former Leader of Opposition Mahendra Karma, eminent politician Vidya Charan Shukla, former MLA Uday Mudliyar, who unsuccessfully contested against CM Dr Raman from Rajnandgaon, and many others were brutally massacred at Jhiram Ghati in Darbha area of Bastar district.