Union Home Minister Amit Shah is set to visit Thiruvananthapuram, the capital of Kerala, on January 11 for a crucial meeting with the state's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leadership. The visit is aimed at consolidating the party's gains from the recent local body elections and charting a course for the upcoming state assembly polls.
Agenda for the Thiruvananthapuram Visit
The senior BJP leader's schedule in the state capital is packed with significant engagements. Amit Shah will directly interact with the party's ward members who emerged victorious in the local body elections. This will be followed by his attendance at a key state leadership meeting. The core focus of these discussions will be to finalize and discuss the party's programmes and strategy for the impending Kerala Legislative Assembly election.
BJP state general secretary M T Ramesh confirmed the details of the visit. He indicated that Shah is expected to provide essential guidelines and directions to the state unit on effectively navigating the assembly election campaign. This visit marks Shah's second trip to the capital in a short span, having previously visited to rally the party cadre ahead of the local body polls.
Analysis of BJP's Local Body Performance
During the discussions, the party's performance in the local elections is likely to be a major point of review. M T Ramesh offered a detailed analysis of the BJP's vote share, providing a corrective to figures circulating in public discourse. He stated that a close examination of the results reveals the BJP secured approximately 14.7% of the votes in the local body polls.
"The real vote share of BJP in the last local body polls was 14%, not 15% as claimed by various other sources," Ramesh clarified. He adopted a measured tone regarding the growth, adding, "I do not say that our vote share increased substantially, but we improved our presence and improved our winnability." The local body elections have reportedly infused the state BJP with renewed energy and confidence to face the larger assembly electoral battle.
Roadmap for Assembly Elections
The visit is strategically timed to build on the momentum from the local polls. During his earlier visit, Amit Shah had set an ambitious target for the party's state unit, urging functionaries to work diligently to boost the BJP's vote share to 25%. The upcoming meetings will likely revolve around actionable plans to achieve this goal.
However, Ramesh clarified that the party's core committee, which met on Saturday, did not venture into discussions regarding the selection of candidates for the assembly elections. This suggests that the immediate focus of the January 11 meet will be on broader organizational strategy and campaigning themes rather than individual constituencies.
The high-profile visit underscores the national leadership's focused attention on Kerala, a state where the BJP is striving to make significant inroads and establish itself as a formidable alternative to the traditional LDF and UDF fronts.
