BJP to conduct study classes for workers

The CPM’s famed study classes for cadre is getting copied in the unlikeliest of places - the camp of rivals BJP.

The saffron party’s Kerala unit is rolling out a similar mechanism to strengthen the party’s basic framework and educate its workers on the nuances of contemporary Kerala politics.

The first ‘political orientation class’ for nearly 22,000 booth-level party workers will be held across 45 centres from June 25 to June 30. The short-term target is to equip the party grassroots for the next big election, but the long-term idea is to make the classes a regular feature, BJP state president V Muraleedharan said. “Our booth-level secretaries and presidents of 7000 booths and a number of workers including the senior party functionary in charge of each booth will attend the classes. It is meant to give participants a thorough grounding on the party’s take on the political situation and to clear doubts about the BJP’s declared policies,’’ he said.

A perfect example of themes that will be handled at such classes is the BJP’s approach towards the CPM and the Congress, he said.

 ‘’Both are our opponents on an equal basis. The CPM is our ideological opponent, while the Congress is the political one, he said.

The classes will be taken by top state leaders including Muraleedharan, O Rajagopal, P K Krishnadas and A N Radhakrishnan. The party decided to focus on booth-level functionaries since it is they who plug into local undercurrents and the changes in thought processes of the voters. Besides, the party was organisationally strong in only about 4500 of the 21000-plus polling booths in the state.

The proposed orientation classes dominated discussions during the party’s state office-bearers meeting on June 12 where  guidelines was prepared for the ‘instructors.’ The party’s assessment of the political situation was crystallised into a ‘political note’ which is to be publicised through the orientation classes. In Phase II, the classes will be extended to workers of 10,000 booths.