It looks now after completing the northern circuit Bharatiya Janata Party will be focusing more towards south as part of its plan to expand the party’s support base to areas beyond its existing pockets of strength. At present party has except in Karnataka marginal representation in Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Odisha. Attention to Tamil Nadu and Kerala which have proved tough nuts for the party to crack has been part of party president Amit Shah’s plan, unveiled during his inaugural address to the national council of the party after taking over as its chief, to break through geographical barriers. Party’s earlier efforts for Tamil Nadu and Kerala did not succeed, but that has not fazed Shah who feels that the goodwill for Prime Minister Narendra Modi may prove to be the tailwind for expansion. In fact, Shah believes that efforts made so far were lacking in conviction. The party is also hopeful about Odisha and will not let expansion efforts be hamstrung by the fact that a confrontation with the state government may upset Navin Patnaik depriving Modi government of the comfort that BJD can provide in Rajya Sabha. To continue in the BJD-ruled state party has to play opposition in the state which is seen as a “potential high growth area”. Shah will be in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana–two other states among his priorities–during 27th-30th December. Encouraged by the success of his rally in Kolkata earlier this month, he has asked the West Bengal unit to organise his next meeting in a rural area. The party has found encouragement from the success of the membership drive which has already resulted in the enrolment of more than 1.62 crore members. The momentum for the campaign is expected to pick up after Modi joins it. Already more than four lakh members have enrolled themselves. Modi’s strong pitch for more members for the BJP earlier this month in Assam saw 58,000 people from the state registering themselves the very same day. BJP will now be focusing for a pan-India presence if it is able to make forays into south thus would be able to fulfill its dream of becoming the biggest single party with no family lineage to bank upon.
