With Focus on South, BJP Targets 333 Seats in 2024 Lok Sabha Polls

BJP’s key strategist said the party has to overcome the perception of being a party of and for the “Hindi” speakers.

Sunil Deodhar, the Bharatiya Janata Party’s national secretary in charge of Andhra Pradesh and Tripura, has set 333 seats as the target for the party in the 2024 Lok Sabha Elections, according to Hindustan Times.

The saffron party alone had bagged 282 seats in 2014 and 303 in 2019.

Deodhar, the key strategist who shifted from Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) to the saffron party, told Hindustan Times in an interview:

“Our core mandala is from West Bengal to Tamil Nadu and to make inroads for 2024, if we have to reach our 333 mark, then we will have to focus on these states along the coast line.”

Sunil Deodhar, BJP national secretary

He added that Mission 333 can be achieved if the BJP overcomes the perception of being a party of and for the “Hindi” speakers. He said that he too has started learning different languages, including Telugu. He adds that he had to master Bengali when he had to oversee the party’s march in the East and the Northeast.

The southern states, except Karnataka, had ducked the national trend of voting for the party in this election. The party won 25 out of 28 seats in Karnataka, 4 of 17 in Telangana but could secure zero seats in Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Andhra Pradesh.

A functionary told the HT that the idea is to up the party’s tally in the southern states similar to how they made inroads into West Bengal this time, where its seat share went from 2 to 18.

“We will build the party structure from scratch; panna pramukhs at the booth levels will be appointed, the party together with the RSS will identify issues that need to be highlighted. For now the focus will only be on the party and not building alliances.”

A functionary told HT

The BJP’s national general secretary Murlidhar Rao, who is in charge of Karnataka, said it is about “national ambition and regional aspiration” and added that the next target for the party is to win the assembly polls in some of the states.