By Amita Verma
Lucknow, Nov 17 (IANS) Victory after victory should have led to euphoria but Bharatiya Janata Party cadres in Uttar Pradesh have started complaining of what they have termed as “poll fatigue”.
“Since 2013 we have been working endlessly for elections, one after another, without any break.
“We worked for Lok Sabha elections in 2014 and then plunged into preparations for the 2017 Assembly elections. Without waiting for any break, we started preparing for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
“The lockdown gave us a small break but the party started virtual interactions and we were kept busy.
“The by-elections have just got over and we are working for legislative council polls next month. The programme is already being drafted for the Panchayat polls that will be held early next year and then, again, we will start working for the 2022 Assembly elections,” said a party worker from Kanpur.
He said that party workers were being kept occupied with one programme or the other and the state leadership was constantly taking feedback to ensure that there was no laxity.
A former BJP office bearer in Prayagraj said, “There is a strong sense of ‘poll fatigue’ that I am experiencing and I am sure that my colleagues would be feeling the same. It seems all activity in the party is focussed only on elections that are coming at an alarming frequency.”
A senior party functionary in Lucknow admitted that a number of workers had also complained of wanting a break and doing work in untapped fields.
“However, our continuous working at the grassroots level is the secret of the party’s success and we cannot afford to have a laidback attitude on this because as a political party we need to forge ahead of our rivals in elections,” he said.
Uttar Pradesh BJP vice-president Vijay Bahadur Pathak said, “The party leadership wants the machinery to remain well-oiled and there is no room for any complacency.
“It is not as if only the party cadres are working — our leaders are working even more than any of us. This explains the success of the BJP and we certainly do not want this to pause.”
–IANS
amita/in