In a bid to reach out to masses ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha and Maharashtra assembly polls, the Bhartiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) is organising multiple sporting events in the state under the “CM Cup” that will be named after various welfare schemes.
Similarly, cultural programmes will also be held in the coming days by the youth wing of the Bharatiya Janata Party.
The move is mainly aimed at targeting youths in the state who, the part feels, will build a momentum ahead of the electoral contests, a BJYM official said on Wednesday.
The party has selected eight games under the ‘CM Cup’ that will bear the names of various welfare schemes launched by the Union and state governments.
For example, the name of an upcoming cricket trophy will be “Ayushman Bharat Cricket”. Similarly, it will be “Jalyukta Shivar Volleyball”, “Shetkari Sanman Kabaddi”, “Soubhagya Kho Kho”, “Udaan Athletics”, “Mudra Yojana Chess”, “Swacch Bharat Kusti” and “Skill India Carom”.
Under the scheme, the government provides health insurance cover of up to Rs 5,00,000 per family per year.
Another Central schemes whose names are being given to athletics, chess, wrestling and carom tournaments are: Udaan scheme which is aimed at regional airport development and connectivity, Mudra Yojana, Skill India and Swachh Bharat (Clean India).
Jalyukta Shivar is the flagship scheme of the Maharashtra government which is aimed at increasing water storage to make the state drought-free.
“Shetkari Sanman” is the name of the farm loan waiver announced by the state government last year for farmers.
The official also said that six cultural programmes are also going to be organised in the coming days, which will be prefixed with some welfare schemes.
Leaflets detailing the plan were distributed to MLAs and MPs of BJP from Maharashtra in a meeting held in Mumbai on Tuesday night.
The cultural events consists of “Ujjwala dance competition”, “Jan Dhan One Act play, “Ujala singing competition”, “Rainbow drawing competitions”, “Make in India Rangoli competition” and “Gramjyoti poetry recital”, read the leaflets.
“All these games and cultural programmes will be held between October 30 and January 12. Unlike the regular practice of holding games in three stages–at taluka, district and state—we plan to organise them at the levels of assembly (segment), district and state.
“The party’s mandate is to have at least 8,640 prize winners at the assembly level, 1,080 at the district level and 30 at the state level,” reads the leaflet.
The entire activity, referred to as the “country’s biggest sports extravaganza”, carries a cumulative prize of Rs one crore, it stated.
“The name of a government scheme juxtaposing with some type of game appears a bit odd, but the agenda is to let people utter its name multiple times. We are targeting the young voters through what they like mostly–sports,” said the official.
Even those people who are not direct beneficiaries of any of these scheme will learn about them through these events, he said.
The BJP has already given some 23 pointers to the party workers to mobilise people ahead of the polls.
