With a year to go for the Karnataka Assembly elections, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has formed three teams that will travel across the length and breadth of the state in the next fortnight to assess the ground situation.
The first team will be led by the BJP national general secretary and Karnataka in-charge Arun Singh. The second team will be headed by the state unit BJP president Nalin Kumar Kateel. The third team will be led by the Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai.
Each team will consist of seven to eight party leaders consisting of MPs, MLAs, party leaders organisation leaders, besides state office-bearers.
The three teams will begin travelling on Tuesday and will wrap up their activities by April 22, covering 10 divisions of the state and all the Assembly constituencies.
“This is a very important exercise to help the BJP understand the ground situation, and assess the organisational strength, besides gathering feedback on the Central and the state government’s schemes. The report will then be shared with the Central and the state BJP leaders,” said a senior BJP functionary.
Each team will spend two days in every division, which will include one-night interaction with the ground-level workers while also holding small ‘Sabhas’ for 5,000 to 10,000 party workers.
The BJP national general secretary Arun Singh-headed team will consist of former Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa, party national general secretary CT Ravi, and state minister R Ashok. Singh will be visiting Belagavi on April 12.
The Bommai team includes Union minister Pralhad Joshi and former union minister Sadananda Gowda. Bommai and his team have been assigned to cover Mangalore and Shimoga divisions.
Nalin Kateel will be visiting Dharwad and Bellary divisions.
The BJP had faced a tough contest in 2018. Yediyurappa quit as Chief Minister with numbers not in favour of the BJP, paving way for the Congress and Janata Dal (Secular) to come back to power. However, the BJP again wrested power in the state on the back of rebellion in the ranks of Congress.
The Karnataka Assembly elections are likely to be held in April 2023. (ANI)
