Guwahati, July 06, 2023: Senior leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) from 12 states in eastern and northeastern India gathered in Guwahati, Assam, on Thursday to discuss and plan for the upcoming 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
The meeting was attended by prominent figures including BL Santosh, the national general secretary of the BJP, Sarbananda Sonowal, Union Minister, Himanta Biswa Sarma, Chief Minister of Assam, Manik Saha, Chief Minister of Tripura, as well as party MPs, MLAs, and state unit presidents.
During the day-long meeting, the leaders focused on strengthening the party’s organization and formulating effective election strategies. Bhabesh Kalita, the Assam president of the BJP, highlighted these key areas of discussion to the reporters.
“Our aim is to secure the re-election of Prime Minister Narendra Modi for a third consecutive term, and we are working diligently towards achieving this goal,” Kalita stated.
Baijayant Panda, the BJP’s in-charge for Assam, emphasized that the party maintains constant engagement with the people throughout the year, not just during election times. He added that the meeting would specifically address organizational matters within the state units of the eastern and northeastern regions.
Prior to the meeting, the BJP leaders paid their respects to Syama Prasad Mookerjee, the founder of the Jana Sangh, on his birth anniversary at the party’s state headquarters.
The 12 states represented in the meeting collectively hold a significant number of Lok Sabha seats, totaling 142. In the 2019 elections, the BJP secured victory in 68 of these seats.
Among the northeastern states, Assam has the highest number of Lok Sabha seats with 14, followed by Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Manipur, and Tripura with two seats each. Mizoram, Nagaland, and Sikkim each have one seat. In the eastern region, West Bengal has 42 seats, Bihar has 40 seats, Odisha has 21 seats, and Jharkhand has 14 seats.
The meeting also touched upon the upcoming Assembly elections in Mizoram, which are expected to take place later this year.
Furthermore, it was announced that BJP leaders from northern, central, and western states will convene in New Delhi on July 7, while those from southern states will meet in Hyderabad on July 8.
