Kochi: The BJP in Kerala should follow the Gujarat and Maharashtra models to emerge as a formidable electoral force in the state, the party’s national president Amit Shah said here on Friday. Addressing a closed-door meeting with the members of the BJP core committee, Mr Shah said the BJP had scored less than 15 per cent votes in Gujarat and Maharashtra till the early 1990s, but it made rapid gains to emerge as a permanent winner in Gujarat and forged a winning combination with the Shiv Sena in Maharashtra. “There is little point in the state BJP leaders and the cadre bragging about the 15 per cent votes polled by the party and its allies in Kerala,” he said and demanded that the party make a breakthrough in terms of electoral gains.
Sending a stern message to the state BJP leaders, the architect of many a BJP victory across India told them that if it was able to make a breakthrough in other states, it should be possible to do it in Kerala too. Mr. Shah, who is on a three-day visit to Kerala, had a hectic schedule in Kochi with a number of meetings with different sections of people. Apart from a highly-publicised meeting with a group of Christian religious leaders, he also had a dinner meeting with prominent entrepreneurs from the region. He will leave for Thiruvananthapuram on Saturday. It is understood that Mr Rajasekharan made a power-point presentation on the performance of the party in the 2014 Lok Sabha and 2016 Assembly elections.
