Singh, who is in charge of the party affairs in Karnataka, spent about two hours with ministers on Wednesday evening, on the first day of his three-day visit to Bengaluru.
The 56-year-old Rajya Sabha member has had meetings with legislators, including those identified with chief minister BS Yediyurappa and his rival camps.
Even as a group of lawmakers sought to highlight a series of complaints against the chief minister and his family members, Singh gave some tips to ministers on how they could win over MLAs by making themselves available to them.
BJP sources told ET that Singh wanted ministers to sit together and decide on a particular day in the week when all of them would be available in the Vidhana Soudha for party legislators and office-bearers. With one visit, the legislators and others should be able to discuss work that needs to be done in their constituencies, he said. He did not want to hear from party MLAs that their own ministers are inaccessible.
Singh, sources added, sought to know from ministers the initiatives in their respective departments they would consider as path-breaking, and would make a lasting impact.
The senior BJP leader was particular that the ministers stay in touch with their counterparts in other BJP-ruled states handling the same portfolio to understand what programmes they are implementing, and how differently they are doing those. He asked ministers to visit other BJP-ruled states and invite their counterparts to Karnataka, exchange notes and replicate best practices.
The ministers overseeing government affairs in Karnataka’s 31 districts were told to spend some time with the party’s grassroots workers every time they visit the districts they are in charge of. The ministers, Singh said, should remain in constant touch with party men as it is they who are in touch with the voters and take their success stories to them.
The ministers have a big role to play to assure people from low-income groups that the party and the government are with them. He asked the ministers to often visit homes of poor families, understand their needs and provide possible support to them.
Singh gave the example of how some leaders gave catchy names to their flagship programmes in the past which became popular slogans of their parties. He urged ministers to come up with similar slogans voters can relate the BJP with.