By Saibal Gupta
Kolkata, Aug 20 (IANS): In an effort to counter Trinamool Congress' grassroots level public relations exercise, the state Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is working on an alternative model where they will be launching their own survey teams. The teams selected by the IT cell -- replicating the Prashant Kishore model -- will be reaching out to the people in the farthest corners of the state to understand their basic needs and problems.
Taking a lesson from the defeat of the recently concluded Assembly polls, the state BJP is leaving no stones unturned before the 2024 Parliamentary election to checkmate Prashant Kishore, who is continuing as the political strategist of Trinamool Congress. It is no secret that the survey teams of Prashant Kishore reached out to the people and worked wonders for Trinamool Congress in the recently concluded Assembly polls.
"These survey teams will be launched in all the 39 organisational districts of the party in the state. The initiative has been mooted, keeping in mind the crucial 2024 Lok Sabha elections. There will be booth-level survey teams. In the initial stage, these survey teams will be launched in 20 Lok Sabha constituencies in the state and in due course, it will cover all the 42 Parliamentary constituencies," a senior BJP leader said.
These survey teams will be working at the grassroots level where more than 30,000 party workers will be engaged. They will make a booth-wise survey and submit reports to the state leadership which will be compiled and sent to the central leadership.
"They will collect information about the existing socio-political situation in respective localities. They will, especially, gather information from the people about the benefits received by them from the Centrally-sponsored projects and who did not get it. They will also collect data on the typical problems faced by the people in a particular locality," another leader said.
Confirming the decision, a senior party leader said that these survey teams are being launched following the instructions of the party's central leadership in New Delhi.
"Already, the process has started in 10 Lok Sabha constituencies. The initial work has started. They will move around in areas slotted for them, speak to the people and collect information. We will send the data collected by them to our central leadership in New Delhi and then take action based on the inputs from the high command," he added.
After the 2021 West Bengal Assembly elections, the state BJP leadership had been facing problems in keeping its organisation intact. The grassroots level party workers are either shying away from the party or joining Trinamool Congress -- either in fear of the ruling party or for some kind personal reasons keeping the state leadership in the dark.
"This public relation exercise is important because unless we get into the root of the problem, it is impossible to understand the ground reality and take some strategic decisions. These survey teams will be working as a bridge between the party leadership and the people. There is a communication gap which needs to be bridged," the senior party leader said.
When asked whether they are trying to replicate the Prashant Kishore model, the leader said, "We have these kinds of survey teams in all the states. So, it is not replicating any model, rather it is an implementation of the larger network which will help in introducing a discipline and a systematic mechanism in the party."