BJP moves to deepen OBC outreach till block level

NEW DELHI: The BJP on Sunday set in motion a process to infuse fresh energy into its efforts to woo OBCs by instituting an OBC Morcha in each organisational unit in the party down to the block level across the country.

The move comes months after BJP president Amit Shah set up the National OBC Morcha in the party in the run-up to the Bihar polls. “Soon after organisational elections get over across the country, we will get state unit chiefs to suggest names for state OBC Morcha chiefs for respective states,” SP Baghel, head of the National OBC Morcha chief, told ET.

Baghel said the identified state unit OBC Morcha chiefs will, in turn, institutionalise district OBC Morchas across their states and then replicate the structure down to the block level. The party will set up a national as well as state executive of OBC Morcha, he said. Though Shah had set National OBC Morcha July last year, the state units of the party dithered over replicating this in their state units and levels below. In this backdrop, Shah’s address to OBC leaders on Sunday set the ball in motion to take this structure down to the block level.

The gathering of OBC leaders from states was aimed at bringing about cohesiveness in this new structure, said Baghel, with the party president and the organisational men from RSS, Ramlal and Shiv Prakash, working together towards this endeavour. The BJP has traditionally had six frontal organisations before Shah set up the OBC Morcha — for women, youth, Dalits, tribals, minorities and farmers.