Sunil Bansal: Jaipur man who ran BJP's war room in UP
LUCKNOW: Halfway through the poll campaign, Amit Shah had fondly called Sunil Bansal the “hero of the 2017 battle“. And in the end, the 47-year-old backroom boy, did prove his worth, despite a section of the BJP ganging up against him and projecting him as an arrogant man who does not listen to others.
Just before the 2014 Lok Sabha election, the RSS decided to send Bansal, who had once been ABVP's general secretary in Jaipur, to Uttar Pradesh to assist Shah, who was then the UP in-charge. It was the first time both met.The six months he spent during the Lok Sabha elections in UP gave him the right experience. “This is one state where politics is in the air,“ he said.
Back in UP as organisation secretary this time, Bansal changed the social combination of the party. With Shah's support, Bansal managed to appoint an additional 1,000 office-bearers from booth to state level from OBCs, MBCs and dalit caste.Instead of replacing OBCs and dalits with upper-caste office-bearers, he added them to the existing strength.
He then selected around 150 workers to look after BJP's day-to-day functioning and ensured that 95% of his team comprised members of the state. “They were workers who had the zeal to work passionately for the party and were tech-savvy , too,“ Bansal said.
After UP BJP registered over two crore members, the party's next task was to strengthen the booth. Bansal then launched a drive to form booth committees. Of the 1.47 lakh booths across the state, BJP managed to have effective committees on at least 1.08 lakh booths. BJP also had to work hard on shedding its 'urban party' tag. It was Bansal's idea that the party contest panchayat elections. He faced resentment over the decision but with support of UP in-charge Om Mathur, BJP contested panchayat elections and won 327 seats.
The BJP wooed voters at the micro level by organising youth, women and dalit meets. Bansal ensured the party marked its presence on social media and facilitated monitoring of programmes being held throughout the state on social media.
Bansal and his team carried out a survey to ascertain possible candidates from each assembly constituency . Four different surveys were carried out about six months back, Bansal told TOI and added that candidates were selected after looking at the surveys.
Just before the 2014 Lok Sabha election, the RSS decided to send Bansal, who had once been ABVP's general secretary in Jaipur, to Uttar Pradesh to assist Shah, who was then the UP in-charge. It was the first time both met.The six months he spent during the Lok Sabha elections in UP gave him the right experience. “This is one state where politics is in the air,“ he said.
Back in UP as organisation secretary this time, Bansal changed the social combination of the party. With Shah's support, Bansal managed to appoint an additional 1,000 office-bearers from booth to state level from OBCs, MBCs and dalit caste.Instead of replacing OBCs and dalits with upper-caste office-bearers, he added them to the existing strength.
He then selected around 150 workers to look after BJP's day-to-day functioning and ensured that 95% of his team comprised members of the state. “They were workers who had the zeal to work passionately for the party and were tech-savvy , too,“ Bansal said.
After UP BJP registered over two crore members, the party's next task was to strengthen the booth. Bansal then launched a drive to form booth committees. Of the 1.47 lakh booths across the state, BJP managed to have effective committees on at least 1.08 lakh booths. BJP also had to work hard on shedding its 'urban party' tag. It was Bansal's idea that the party contest panchayat elections. He faced resentment over the decision but with support of UP in-charge Om Mathur, BJP contested panchayat elections and won 327 seats.
The BJP wooed voters at the micro level by organising youth, women and dalit meets. Bansal ensured the party marked its presence on social media and facilitated monitoring of programmes being held throughout the state on social media.
Bansal and his team carried out a survey to ascertain possible candidates from each assembly constituency . Four different surveys were carried out about six months back, Bansal told TOI and added that candidates were selected after looking at the surveys.
