Inside BJP’s MP model: A daily connect between cadre & cabinet

Bhopal: In normal course, it’s quite a task for a party worker and a common man to meet a minister for redressal of his grievance. But, here in the state BJP headquarters, every afternoon, people, including party workers, line up with applications — some seeking resolution to their long pending land and house disputes, others hoping for postings or administrative intervention, including transfers in govt jobs and personal disputes -- all in front of the ministers from departments concerned, who sit through a scheduled public hearing and open to taking questions.Running for nearly six months now under the party’s ‘Sahyog Cell’, the initiative has quietly become one of the BJP’s most active organisational exercises in Madhya Pradesh. “Listening to grievances under a structured programme that the party believes has helped strengthen its connect with workers at the grassroots, and reach out to the needy,” said a party functionary.More than 3,000 applications have already been received, according to party functionaries, with the number swelling further after the state govt recently opened its annual transfer window for long awaited cases.What makes the exercise unusual is its institutionalised format. A monthly roster is issued in advance, informing party workers and people which ministers will be available on which day. Aggrieved people and workers arrive not only from Bhopal but from remote districts across the state, often carrying recommendation letters from local BJP office-bearers — now a largely mandatory requirement for entry into the hearing process.“This is done under the Sahyog Cell of the party. A monthly roster is published, and every day two ministers remain present, and their work is to ensure that problems of people who come here are resolved. People can see the roster and visit accordingly. The objective was to ensure that workers do not have to move around and anyone, even common people, can come here with their problems. This is open for everyone,” BJP state media cell incharge Ashish Usha Agarwal told TOI.The popularity of the platform has also produced anecdotes that party insiders narrate with amusement. “Some workers come repeatedly with the same impractical demands. During transfer season, people come seeking transfers and later return asking for cancellation of the same transfer,” said a party source. “But for genuine issues, the platform has proved very helpful.”For a party that claims more than 1.5 crore members in Madhya Pradesh alone, the exercise appears to be more than grievance redressal — it is also a mechanism to keep its vast cadre directly connected to both the organisation and the govt.