Walk 150 km to woo voters: Maharashtra BJP tells MLAs

Maharashtra Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Tuesday issued a direction to its legislators, urging them to walk at least 150 km during the ‘Sampark Abhiyan’ to connect with with voters.

The walk will help party MLAs connect better with voters in their respective constituencies, a party official said.

“We decided to zero in on the figure 150 to mark the 150^th birth anniversary year of Mahatma Gandhi which the party wants to commemorate in a constructive way,” the official told PTI.

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The party has given out detailed chart for the 150 km walk to all its 121 MLAs in the state.

“We have given a detailed chart to all 121 BJP MLAs in Maharashtra, with instructions for the campaign, the purpose of these visits and how the party wishes to reach out to the people,” the official added.

The recent resignation of an MLA had reduced the BJP’s seat in the state to 121.

The 150 km walk target will end on January 30, the death anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, he said.

“Each MLA is also expected to perform an hour’s ‘shram-dan’ in his or her constituency and will be accompanied by 150 party workers during the ‘Padyatra’. The exercise has already started,” the official said.

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Propagating details of development initiatives of the BJP-led governments at the Centre and the state will be the focus of the foot march, the official said.

However, some BJP MLAs have raised concerns with the party leadership on the response to this exercise in North Maharashtra and Marathwada regions, where low rainfall has forced farmers to cancel the rabi sowing.

“Farmers and rural populace is worried about low rainfall forcing them to cut sowing. How to approach people about political issues when their livelihood is in danger,” a BJP MLA from Aurangabad district said.

In urban areas, the focus is on issues like fuel prices and devaluation of rupee, a Mumbai MLA said. “As an MLA, I was able to address issues about roads and health. But when I was asked about rising fuel prices and rupee getting weaker against the US dollar, I had no answers,” he said.

(With PTI inputs)