Ensuring more penetration at booth level, the BJP has decided to form a five-member committee on each page of electoral roll ahead of next year's assembly polls in five states.
Earlier, the saffron party used to appoint 'Panna Pramukh', in charge of one page (both front and back) of a voters list, which is now replaced with 'Panna Committee' consisting of voters from the same page. The BJP believes that the panna committee will ensure a minimum 60 per cent of votes of the page in its favour.
Assembly elections will be held in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Manipur and Goa in the early part of next year.
The 'Panna Pramukh' concept, a brainchild of union home minister Amit Shah, was first used in 2007 Gujarat assembly polls and has since been replicated in other states and 2019 General elections as well. A 'panna pramukh' acts as the head of one page (both front and back) of a voters list consisting of the names of nearly 30 voters.
Panna pramukh's responsibilities include ensuring that people listed on the pages of electoral rolls exercise their franchise on voting day. They have to also establish regular connections with voters on their page and motivate them to vote in favour of the saffron party.
A senior party functionary said that to reach out to each and every voter, it has been decided that now onwards a committee consisting of five members will be formed for each page (panna). "It has also been decided that all the five committee members are from different families and their names are mentioned on the same page," he said.
Another BJP leader explained that there are 30 voters on a page and, on an average, consists of six to seven families. "To form the panna committee, we have to add one member each from the five families. In elections, if committee members only convince the majority of their family members then nearly 60 to 70 per cent will be confirmed in our favour," he said.
Process for formation of panna committees will start in the next couple of months after formation of party units at block level in these poll bound states. "It has been decided that the formation of an organisational unit at block level will be completed by September. After that formation of panna committee will start and is likely to be completed in next two months," a BJP national office bearer said
