KURNOOL: BJP national president Amit Shah and RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat arrived in Mantralayam on Thursday night for a three-day 'Chintan Bhaitak' of the Sangh Parivar beginning Friday. Though RSS and BJP leaders were tight-lipped, sources told TNIE that the meeting will discuss the roadmap for the 2019 elections besides taking stock of the current political situation in the country.
When contacted, BJP State vice-president K Kapileswaraiah said 250 top leaders from 32 Sangh affiliates including the BJP, and the Vishwa Hindu Parishad will attend the brainstorming session. BJP
district president K Harish Babu said such a meeting of the wider Sangh was being held for the first time in the district.
The BJP leaders declined to say anything beyond. The meeting will be held at the TTD Kalyana Mandapam in Mantralayam. According to sources, high on the agenda of the leaders would be the upcoming Assembly elections in four States and the strategy to be adopted to counter the increasing negative perception against the Modi government among the Dalit community. The arrests of human rights activists the other day by the Pune Police for their alleged connection to the Bhima Koregaon violence will also come up for discussion. Similarly, the Congress efforts to unite the Opposition and form a Mahaghatbandhan will be discussed at length as also the strategy to counter the same.
BJP State organising secretary Ravindra Raju, however, told TNIE that it was a routine meeting and said these meetings take place in the usual course. Last year, this kind of a meeting was held in Uttar Pradesh.