BJP CMs meet Modi, vow to better 2014 tally in Lok Sabha polls

NEW DELHI: The BJP chief ministers’ council meeting on Tuesday resolved to contest the 2019 Lok Sabha polls under the leadership of PM Narendra Modi and pledged to win more seats than 2014.

Modi, party president Amit Shah and senior ministers Rajnath Singh, Arun Jaitley and Nitin Gadkari met with CMs and deputy CMs of 15 BJP-ruled states and exchanged views on how to face the forthcoming electoral challenges amid the possibility of the opposition putting up a united challenge.

Party leaders shared their views on recent decisions of the Centre like MSP hike, which they believed would help double farmers’ income, which the Modi dispensation is keen to accomplish by 2022.

“MSP price hike is the biggest contribution to the common man,” Chhattisgarh CM Raman Singh said.

He added party leaders believed moves like constitutional status for the OBC Commission and restoring key provisions in the SC/ST Act would impact major sections of society. They were unanimous that initiatives like NRC in Assam would be positively received.

Modi and Shah separately met CMs of poll-bound MP, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh and decided the central theme for the campaign would be welfare of the poor. However, Singh said party would have different strategies for each state.

Although Singh refused to comment on the issue, sources said Modi and Shah held discussions on the consequences of possible alliances within the opposition , mainly in UP where SP and BSP are on the verge of forging a tie-up.