Gujarat: Behind BJP target of 5-lakh vote margin in each of 26 seats — math & motivation

In its outreach programmes for workers across Gujarat, BJP leaders have been emphasising on the “target” set for booth workers, which some admit has also led to “added pressure” on the shoulders of the workers.

Addressing workers at Karyakarta sammelans in Lok Sabha constituencies, BJP leaders have been reiterating ‘Target 370’.

BJP Vadodara city unit president Vijay Shah told The Indian Express, “The figure of 370 has a great recall value and meaning for BJP workers… The idea behind asking the workers to ensure that 370 more votes are polled in each polling station is to indirectly ask for an increased voting percentage… In the 2021 Vadodara civic body polls, Congress gained advantage in booths with low voting percentage and won some seats.”

Shah added, “The fact is that booths generally see about 60-70 per cent voter turnout. If we add a target of 370 additional votes, it will lead to an increased voter turnout and it directly affects the party’s numbers… Although, in the Vadodara, we have already recorded a victory margin of over five lakh votes in 2019 and the same is not difficult to achieve, we are stressing on it to motivate the workers.”

In Anand, where sitting MP Mitesh Patel is seeking a second-term, BJP leaders said that the booth-level target also allows the party to work harder in constituencies where several polling stations may indicate that the traditional voting pattern is not in favour of the BJP.

Mitesh Patel said, “It is an extremely organised way of going about the plan to win all constituencies by a record margin. When we make a claim like that we need to have a plan in place. There is arithmetic involved in this target. For instance, I have about 1,800 booths in Anand constituency… We are aware that we do not bag many votes in about 300 of these booths, as they could be traditional voters of other parties… We then know that the task is cut out to work harder in the other booths.”

“A simple multiplication shows me that we could comfortably win the seat by over six lakh votes if the booth workers work towards the target. Each MLA has been handed over the task of encouraging party workers in his or her respective Assembly seat,” he added. To achieve the target, the party has mined the electoral roll and provided specific booth-wise voter data to its units, also highlighting the “negative voting booths”. The members of each page committee have been entrusted with establishing a rapport with women, youth and beneficiaries of government schemes to ensure that the party’s vote share also increases along with the turnout. Anand district BJP president Rajesh Patel said, “We have 20 simultaneous sampark (outreach) programmes going on as part of the Lok Sabha campaign – for women, youth and beneficiaries of government schemes. Each booth worker has to take care of only the voters in his list and there are around five page committee members for every page of the booth data. Between them, they have been given the task of motivating voters to cast their franchise…”

“By way of the sampark programmes, the workers are tasked with meeting these groups and beneficiaries. We are looking at an increase in voter turnout by 10-15 per cent, which will directly increase the vote share.”

The message has been replicated in other constituencies but party workers said they feel “pressurised”, with BJP conducting an in-depth booth-wise data analysis under party president C R Paatil.

An elected representative of Central Gujarat said, “The central leadership is stressing on the ‘370’ figure as the abrogation of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir holds sentimental value. In Gujarat, however, there has been a lot of emphasis on booth-wise data, with C R Paatil holding workshops to underline the importance of booth performance… While it has motivated the workers, it has built pressure too. While mentioning the target, we have been asked to also mention its significance – the historic decision in J&K as well as to commemorate the sacrifice made by Shyama Prasad Mookerjee.”

Paatil has advised the elected representatives, especially MLAs, to “not be complacent” and work closely with the booth workers.

A senior leader said, “Paatil has said that if any booth records lower number of votes when compared to the 2019 polls, it will be seen as a ‘negative voter turnout’ and the elected representatives of the area will be directly held accountable. One of the reasons for this is also to bring together warring factions of the party… The BJP is a cadre-based party and setting clear goals often helps bring together the workers, who could feel distracted by sulking senior leaders.”

The leader added that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has also decided to address booth workers in each state to emphasise on the “achievable target” of breaking the previous booth record. “The PM himself is speaking to booth workers, who are the driving force behind the campaign, as they personally know voters in their areas and only requires a rapport to get voters to the polling station.”