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BJP relying heavily on �backstage� workers

By PRANJAL BHUYAN

GUWAHATI, March 29 - Even as Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP�s national president Amit Shah are themselves leading the party campaign in Assam for the Lok Sabha polls, the BJP is relying heavily on thousands of cadres of the party as well as its frontal organisations who are engaged in �backstage� work, including analysing constituency and voter specific data, networking with the electorate through social media, conducting cultural events and managing security and transportation.

The State unit of the ruling party has constituted a number of subcommittees under its Election Management Committee to cater to various campaign requirements and make the electioneering process smooth.

These subcommittees are looking after matters like media relations, office activities, publicity, distribution of campaign materials, liaison with the Election Commission and local administration, transportation, booth management, social media and IT, arrangement of helicopters for senior leaders, cultural activities, coordination with the RSS and other Sangh affiliates, protocol and accommodation of ministers and senior party leaders and management of public meetings, among other things.

�Our party has been in election mode since many months. We started getting ready almost a year back. The panchayat polls held late last year was a trial run for us. It gave us enough ideas and experience on how to proceed with things for the Lok Sabha polls,� said a senior State BJP leader.

He said that the party had last year formed four departments to look after media, social media, legal matters, and promotion of awareness about flagship schemes of the Central and State governments. �These departments were activated in all the 14 Lok Sabha constituencies of Assam with a view to target the various segments of voters, especially the youth, women and economically disadvantaged sections. For example, social media is now the biggest tool to attract youngsters who make up over 65-70 per cent of the electorate. Similarly, the economically weaker sections have benefited from our government�s flagship schemes and so we set up a dedicated department to focus on that sector,� said the leader.

�The results of the panchayat polls proved that our efforts were successful. As the Lok Sabha polls are an ever bigger affair, our party decided to constitute additional departments or subcommittees to ensure that all requirements related to the party�s election efforts are taken care of in an orderly manner. For example, many cadres are engaged in making phone calls to voters with a view to establish one-on-one contact with them. Our backroom warriors are the real frontline soldiers of our party,� he said.

BJP leaders said that dedicated teams of cadres have been deployed in all the subcommittees, both at the State and the district levels.

�For example, three media coordinators have been put in place at each of the 14 Lok Sabha constituencies. They not only deal with media-related issues at the constituency level but also carry out coordination with the State media team. Each department, in turn, reports to the Election Management Committee,� said another leader.

He said that the State BJP undertook a series of programmes over the last few months to train its cadres on various aspects related to the poll campaign. �Page in-charges were appointed across all Lok Sabha constituencies by our party. Each page in-charge is responsible for coordinating with all the voters whose names appear in a particular page of the electoral list. The emphasis is on having maximum mass contact,� said the leader.

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