Narendra Modi and Amit Shah to meet BJP CMs on Aug 21

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah will interact with the Chief Ministers and their deputies of all 13 BJP-ruled states on Monday, in a move aimed at devising strategy to fight anti-incumbency in the coming Assembly elections and bolstering the party’s chances in 2019.

Shah on Thursday briefed top BJP leaders, including some Union Ministers, and laid out a roadmap to win 360-plus seats — up from the current 281 — in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. The BJP chief identified 150 seats which the party lost in 2014 in states such as West Bengal, Odisha, Karnataka and in the Northeast.

The BJP needs to perform exceptionally well in states where it is in power to achieve the target Shah has set. The party has been in power for more than two terms in many big states like Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan where it has an uphill task to fight anti-incumbency.

Modi and Shah will take stock of the present situation on all fronts — economic, social and political — in BJP-ruled states, senior party sources said.

Modi is also expected to check report cards and see how these states have performed on the development and social welfare work …read more