BJP core committee meet for polls put off after CM Chouhan falls ill

BHOPAL: The crucial meeting of state BJP core committee, which was scheduled to be held on Monday to discuss strategy for forthcoming assembly elections, party activities and performance of MLAs, was postponed following the ill health of chief minister and beginning of Parliament’s budget session.
The meeting was called after a long interval following BJP president Amit Shah’s instruction to the state leadership to evaluate the performance of MLAs every month. Shah had given this intruction during his threeday visit to Bhopal in August 2017. The core committee members were also asked to strengthen the booth-level network by assigning duty to full-time volunteers.
Sources in the BJP said the meeting was important in view of bypolls in Mungaoli and Kolaras.
As the party is lagging behind the Opposition Congress in announcing candidates for the two assembly seats, the leaders decided that after the announcement of candidates the party would officially launch the election campaign and schedule for star campaigners, which has now got delayed.
BJP state president Nandkumar Singh Chauhan said the meeting was postponed due to unavoidable reasons. He however, poh-poohed Congress claim to regain power in the state through its much-hyped ‘ghar vapsi’ (homecoming) campaign.
“The meeting was postponed due to unavoidable reasons. We have Mungaoli and Kolaras bypolls and the Parliament’s budget session has also begun. But, BJP still holds sway in the state. Congress dream of ‘homecoming’ would be never be fulfilled,” Nandkumar Singh told reporters.
The BJP state chief alleged that Congress leaders’ claim of “ghar vapsi” is a dream. When the leaders are sitting in open without a roof or a house, how can they think of returning home, said Chauhan. He said that Congress leaders are joining BJP and they also admit that staying in BJP would be more beneficial rather going back. “Congressmen who had joined BJP know where their old party stands. They say that they would spend their whole life in BJP and nowhere else”, claimed Chouhan.