Lalit Mohan

Tribune press service

Dharamsala, June 25

The two-day meeting of the BJP’s Enlarged Small Group kicked off here today under the chairmanship of BL Santosh, the party’s national secretary general. Most senior party leaders like Himachal Party leader Avinash Rai Khanna, Co-leader Sanjay Tandon, Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur, former CM Prem Kumar Dhumal, State Minister of Finance and Business Trade Union Anurag Thakur and all ministers of the Himachal Cabinet attended the meeting.

Party leaders focused on strategies for winning the next by-elections in the Assembly constituencies of Fatehpur and Jubbal-Kotkhai and in the parliamentary constituency of Mandi. BJP leaders are unwilling to leave any effort to win the by-elections, as they would set the tone for the Assembly elections to be held next year.

For Mission Repeat 2022, the sources said senior leaders also discussed the performance of various MPs. They also discussed strategies to defeat the anti-office in the state. Former chief minister Shanta Kumar, also invited, did not attend the meeting today. Party spokesman Randhir Sharma, when asked about Shanta Kumar’s absence, said he would attend the meeting tomorrow.

The meeting was held behind closed doors and even BJP MPs were not invited.

The sources said the meeting was held to assess the impact of the Covid and the price hike on the party’s popularity. The leaders suggested strategies to address the problems of rising unemployment and rising prices, which the party attributes to the pandemic and its economic impact.

The meeting handed over the responsibilities of various wings such as panna pramukhs, mahila wing, Bharatiya Janta Yuva Morcha to party workers. How party workers associated with these wings would approach people and explain to them the actions taken by BJP governments in the state and in the Center during the pandemic was also discussed.

Ministers of state and MPs have already submitted detailed reports to the party on how they have helped people during the pandemic. Party workers were ordered to pass on to the people the work done by ministers and deputies.