Amit Shah and BJP leaders, including senior Union ministers, have met people from different walks of life, who, party leaders say, could influence the opinions of people around them. (Express Photo by Tashi Tobgyal)
BJP leaders and ministers have met several prominent personalities from various fields to communicate to them the achievements of the Narendra Modi government and take their feedback as part of the ‘Sampark for Samarthan’ programme launched by party chief Amit Shah. The initiative, aimed at bolstering the BJPs prospects in the 2019 elections, is yielding results, party sources said.
Shah and BJP leaders, including senior Union ministers, have met people from different walks of life, who, party leaders say, could influence the opinions of people around them. The choice of personalities was left to the leaders — while the Union ministers preferred to pick celebrities, other BJP leaders were meeting people in fields they are familiar with.
As part of Sampark for Samarthan, a group of 4,000 BJP leaders are expected to establish interaction with 1 lakh personalities across the country over 15 days — one leader is required to meet 50 opinion-makers, including artists, actors, religious leaders, Constitution experts and ex-Army personnel.
Shah has already met former Army chief General Dalbir Singh Suhag (retd), Constitution expert Subhash Kashyap, former cricketer Kapil Dev, actress Madhuri Dixit, yoga guru Ramdev, businessman Ratan Tata, veteran journalist Kuldeep Nayar and Milkha Singh and Balbir Singh from the sports field. Party leaders said Shah is expected to go to other parts of the country to meet more people.
Union minister Nitin Gadkari met actor Nana Patekar, MD & CEO of Yes Bank Rana Kapoor, and actor Salman Khan and his father Salim Khan in Mumbai. During a visit to Pullela Gopichand’s academy in Hyderabad, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman met trainees there and explained the government’s initiatives. She also met tennis player Sania Mirza and former cricketer V V S Laxman.
During their interactions, the BJP leaders also take feedback on the functioning of the government. “The leaders take suggestions for action. Some give valuable suggestion for action in their fields,” a party leader said.
Anil Baluni, Rajya Sabha MP and head of BJP media cell, said, “The exercise has been extremely good and yielded positive impact. When you approach the opinion-makers of society — from all sections of life — to explain the government’s achievement, they feel good. They said that no other party or government had approached them to explain the government’s programmes. We do not meet just our supporters, we meet our critics too….”
Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath launched his Sampark for Samarthan programme during his recent visit to Gorakhpur. In an interaction with businessman Om Jalan, he explained the initiatives taken by the BJP governments at the Centre and in the state and sought his support for 2019 polls.
The leaders also hand over a 35-page book listing the achievements of the government. The Indian Express on June 11 reported that the booklet, Saaf Niyat, Sahi Vikas, dedicates a sizeable portion to women-led development. The other sectors list projects related to agriculture and farmers, social welfare schemes for SCs, STs and OBCs. It lists the triple talaq legislation passed in Lok Sabha as one of the key achievements.