PANJIM: Banking on a strategy to woo minority voters, BJP National president Amit Shah on Saturday directed his party leaders in Goa to tap 30 per cent of the minority vote for the party for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, due in April-May.
Shah, during his meeting with BJP Ministers, MLAs and office bearers, issued clear instructions for them to reach out to each and every minority house and convert the votes to the party. This had been the thrust area in 2014 too. Meetings with minority religious heads are also on the agenda.
“Shah’s message was loud and clear that we have to target 30 per cent of the minority votes for the party. There will be no compromise on that,” a senior BJP MLA said adding, “Minorities supported the party in the 2014 elections and we have to reach out to them again.”
The BJP leader said that Shah was very particular that not a single minority house should be left out during the campaign. “30 per cent of the total minority votes is the thrust area,” the leader stated, adding that Shah informed them how during his recent visit to Kerala he had met several Catholic heads.
Asked whether discussions were held on stability of the government or dissolution of the State Assembly, the MLA replied in the negative. “The entire focus of the meeting was the Lok Sabha election,” he said.
Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar was not part of the meeting. However, Shah had interacted with Parrikar earlier when he visited him at his residence at Dona Paula.
BJP is not known to give tickets to minority candidates in other States, but in Goa almost half its MLAs are Catholic, including two ministers and the Deputy Speaker.
The minority community had been wary of the BJP ever since Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar launched mission Salcete, targeting the Congress bastion in the 2012 Assembly elections. That helped the party win that year. The wave continued during the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, with both the BJP candidates winning comfortably in the North and South.
However, the wave dried out in 2017, though the party managed to get seven Catholic candidates elected.
