Opinion

Modi and his meeting with UP Cabinet: Eyeing 2024 polls?

For the BJP, the 2024 polls to the Lok Sabha could be much different from what it had been over the past two elections.

The 2024 polls are a couple of years away. But Prime Minister Narendra Modi wants his team to start work on a winning formula from now on. For Modi, return to power has turned out to be so very important of late, considering the manner in which the economy has boarded the decline express.

So what the Prime Minister would want to have is an assurance from his cadre, his party leaders and BJP chief ministers in various states. As if in a move to set the ball rolling, Narendra Modi stopped over in Lucknow on his way back from his Nepal visit, and held parleys with the Cabinet ministers of Uttar Pradesh at Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath’s residence.

The dinner meet is significant, if one looks at the long term itinerary of the BJP. The meeting witnessed PM Modi instructing UP’s Cabinet ministers to spend the maximum time in their areas while stressing on good governance. Yogi Adityanath’s ministers were also directed to make sure that the benefits of all government schemes would reach common people. He also exhorted them to show dedication towards public service.

Working towards 2024 polls?

The BJP government in UP, which is just a couple of weeks into its second term, sees the Modi guidance as a step towards a long-term agenda and may be believed as PM Modi’s bid to make sure that the BJP would come back to power in 2024. The best way to set the ball rolling for the general elections of 2024 would be to begin from the largest state where the BJP has immense popularity.

For the BJP, the 2024 elections to the Lok Sabha is much different from what it had been over the past two polls. Though the party leaders or the cadre would not agree, there are issues waiting to haunt Modi’s re-election in 2024.

The economy is in a shambles, fuel prices are skyrocketing, prices of essential goods are on their way up like never before. Besides, the Hindutva agenda has been sticking out as a sore thumb, with issues cropping up from various corners of the country with regular frequency. Besides, the education sector policies have been attracting a lot of criticism, and so are the privatisation ventures rolled out by the government.

Issues galore for BJP to tackle

On one side these irritants have everything that would make PM Modi and his team uncomfortable. On another side, the Opposition parties are trying to regroup to pose a formidable challenge to the BJP behemoth that had been keeping them all at bay. The parties just need to agree on a bunch of aspects and if they do they could mean some amount of pressure on Modi and his men before the 2024 poll winds start blowing.

So, with the Lucknow meeting with the UP Cabinet needs to be seen as PM Modi’s first salvo in his quest for another term at the Centre. What UP does, he would be able to emulate in other parts of the country. That could be what Modi must be thinking. The 2024 polls are still away, and the BJP has enough time to set correct all pin pricks that are making the party and the government uncomfortable. Meanwhile, the Opposition too could be looking at some camaraderie between all like-minded outfits so as to turn themselves as a worthy rival to the BJP and allies.

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Sanjeev Ramachandran

A journalist with 23 years of experience, Sanjeev has worked with reputed media houses such as Business Standard, The Ne More »

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