After taking Bihar in the most unexpected way of changeover of the government, BJP must be focusing now on southern states with special emphasis on strengthening its base in Tamil Nadu and position itself as a potential contender for the Dravidian legacy. The party has been making concerted efforts to fill the political space created by former Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa’s death and DMK chief, M Karunanidhi’s retirement from active politics. BJP has identified 120 constituencies in the state, where it has improved its fortunes over the years. Full-time members have been deputed for the outreach programme to strengthen our base. Party’s National President Amit Shah is said to have helped evolve the micro-management strategy in the wake of its defeat in the 2016 Assembly election. At least 10,000 have been engaged for the Vistarak programme to establish contacts with the people, take the Modi government’s achievements to them and rev up the membership drive. The ongoing programme saw 5,000 members already doing their bit to “bring about a change.” The executive committees from the state to Mandal level meet periodically for diverse political activities, including flag hoisting in all 65,000 booths in the state. BJP has been trying to get hold in southern states for a long time. Except Karnataka where it has been in power with B. S Yedurappa as Chief Minister the party has been desperate to bring in its agenda of removing family rule and Left party rules so that it becomes easy to make for it to make functional ‘Congress Mukt Bharat’ dream of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The O Pannerselvam-led (OPS) faction has a rapport with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The two meetings OPS had with Modi, first in Delhi and later in Madurai, in less than a week has jolted Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami’s (EPS) camp. Modi has developed a liking for Jayalalithaa’s trusted lieutenant that is what the party insiders feel. But, the BJP government is not averse to doing business with the EPS camp either, provided Palaniswami keeps the Sasikala clan at bay.
