BJP brainstorms on 2023 Karnataka poll preparations

Bengaluru: The ruling BJP's Karnataka unit on Friday held a brainstorming session to discuss strategies to win the 2023 state Assembly election in the state and top leaders made a number of suggestions including the need for functionaries avoiding making controversial statements that could prove detrimental to the party's poll prospects.

Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, BJP national General Secretary in-charge of Karnataka Arun Singh, state party president Nalin Kumar Kateel, Karnataka ministers and other senior party functionaries attended the day-long brainstorming meet at a private resort off Devanahalli in the city, party sources said.

Former chief ministers B S Yediyurappa, Jagadish Shettar, and D V Sadananda Gowda also participated in the session.

The meet, which about 50 senior party leaders attended, was aimed at strengthening the party base and chalk out strategies to win the upcoming election, which is hardly 10 months away, a party office-bearer told PTI.

During the meeting, it was decided to improve the coordination between the party and the government, so that the organisation's cadres can be involved more in taking the government programmes to the grassroots level and help them reach the beneficiaries.

The MLAs and the ministers were also told to unitedly prepare for the elections and shun any differences against anyone to ensure that the party wins the polls with absolute majority, a source said.

The senior leaders said the victory in next year's assembly election is crucial to win the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

A former chief minister reportedly asked the senior leaders not to approach the election with over confidence and wanted them to strengthen party base at the grass root level.

He also insisted upon avoiding unwanted controversial statements that could impact the poll prospects, a source said.

The top BJP functionaries asked ministers and legislators to devote time to the party workers to understand the challenges, address their grievances, if any, and coordinate with them to work at the booth level.

It was not known whether there were any discussions on the cabinet expansion, which was the hot topic among legislators aspiring to become ministers.