Ahmedabad: With the announcement by the election commission of local self-government bodies' elections in Gujarat, the clarion call has been sounded for a fierce political battle. Be it a small or big political party, victory is the thing every party aspires for. The BJP has been flourishing in Gujarat for the past 25 years. BJP enjoys power both in the state and at the Centre. When the result of the assembly by-elections in Gujarat was declared on November 8, the Congress and other opposition parties received a big jolt. The BJP, under the leadership of newly appointed party president CR Patil, had won all the seats in the by-election. Not only this, CR Patil was also able to ensure the victory of those candidates who had defected from the Congress and joined the BJP. All political pundits agreed that the victory was the result of BJP's organizational skills.
How it will benefit the BJP?
For the past one-and-a-half month, the word 'Page Pramukh' has been echoing in the corridors of power. The idea of 'Page Pramukh' was first mooted by CR Patil in the Chintan Shibir or deliberation camp organized in December last year. So convinced was CR Patil about the concept of 'Page Pramukh' that he had thundered: "In the upcoming state assembly election in Gujarat, the BJP will win all the 182 seats."
On what basis was Patil so confident? Patil had won the Navsari parliamentary seat with a landslide majority. He had also won the state assembly election with a sizable margin. The 'Page Pramukh' strategy is being viewed as a sure shot strategy to win all the 182 seats of the Gujarat state legislative assembly.
This strategy will prove atomic bomb to finish off Congress and other opposition parties, thunders Patil
Banking on the 'Page Pramukh' strategy, Patil had declared that the BJP would win on all seats of taluka and district panchayats in Gujarat. Patil had said: "This strategy will become an atomic bomb for Congress and other opposition parties. The saffron flag will flutter over all the state. The BJP has two 'Brahmastras' —Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the strategy of 'Page Pramukh'. Congress doesn't have any counter-strategy. The Congress' defeat is certain in this election.
Patil aims to reach out to 2.15 crores voters in Gujarat through 15 lakh Page Committees. Soon after taking over as the BJP state president, Patil introduced the 'Page Pramukh' strategy and gave a deadline to his party workers to implement it. Party workers are approaching influential persons even of the smallest residential colonies to convert them into BJP supporters. Through the 'Page Pramukh' strategy, the BJP will be able to directly contact 2.15 crore voters of the state. As per the planning of the strategy, the 'Page Pramukhs' will be issued ID cards. The BJP is forming district wise Page Committees. BJP has so far printed 50,000 ID cards.
How does the strategy work?
The 'Page Pramukh' strategy relies solely on the voters' list brought out by the election commission. Each page 'Page Pramukh' is entrusted the responsibility of ensuring that every voter on his page goes to vote and that he votes for the BJP.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah also hail 'Page Pramukhs' in their speeches for their precious contributions. Gujarat is the lab in which the BJP is testing the 'Page Pramukh' strategy. If the test is successful, the party intends to replicate it on the national level in other states as well.
'Page Pramukh' ID cards issued to even CM, DyCM, HM
Not just senior and junior party workers, the 'Page Pramukh' ID cards are issued to the chief minister, deputy chief minister and home minister. When the ID cards were issued to Gujarat chief minister Vijay Rupani and his wife Anjali, Vijaybhai said: "The rule of the BJP is applicable to all and sundry in the party, be it a junior party worker, the party president or the CM. The implementation of this strategy entails monitoring of the party workers of 50,000 booth and 'Page Pramukh' of every single page. As part of this strategy, I am first a party worker then the chief minister. It is my responsibility as a 'Page Pramukh' to see to it that all the voters listed in my page go to the polling booth and vote. For this, I will be submitting reports to my page committee. Like every 'Page Pramukh' my wife and I, too, have been issued ID cards by the party. The 'Page Pramukh' strategy is a 'Brahmastra' designed by Shree CR Patil which is sure to destroy Congress and other opposition parties."
Ranjanben Bhatt, a BJP MP from Vadodara seat who won twice as corporator, told ETV Bharat: "There are 30 voters in one page, from which we select five voters with their photographs and make them members of the Page Committee. In many cases, more than five members have been incorporated into the Page Committee. It makes it possible for us to establish person-to-person contact with the voters. In a first, a total of 25,156 women were made the members of the Page Committee in Gujarat."
"The loyal voters of the BJP have expressed their eagerness to become the members of the Page Committee," said Dushyant Patel, current BJP MLA from Bharuch, who has been a corporator of Bharuch municipality.
Eminent political analyst Dilip Gohil told ETV Bharat: "The concept of 'Page Pramukh' is derived from the BJP's booth management strategy. Earlier, the BJP would mobilize voters in every booth. Now with the 'Page Pramukh' concept, the party has designed a watertight strategy. If a 'Page Pramukh' and four Page Committee members are made in charge of 30 voters, the party is sure to get 20 votes. This strategy aims to garner 66 per cent vote share. If there is no 'Page Pramukh' in a ward where opposition party workers hold their sway, the BJP can't do much. Thus, the BJP has devised the strategy of 'Page Pramukh'. Its prime objective is to ensure that maximum votes are cast for the BJP. The BJP has issued ID cards to 'Page Pramukhs' and Page members. The party has to ensure that these cards are not misused."
"It's a micro-management strategy to win six municipal corporations and the BJP appears all set to win," said another political analyst, Pala Varu.
"Earlier, there used to be booth management of 50 members. Now the number has been reduced to 30. Only time will tell whether the BJP would be able to pull the voters to the polling booths or not," Varu said.
"The BJP relies heavily on its urban voters and it will ensure that the maximum number of voters from the urban areas vote for it. It's a common refrain that voters from the urban areas don't go to vote. Hence, with the 'Page Pramukh' strategy, the BJP aims to ensure that the urban areas' voters do go to the polling booths to vote and increase the voting share percentage of the party," he added.
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