Top BJP generals Amit Shah, Yogi turn foot soldiers to win UP

Lucknow

Top Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) generals, including Union ministers Amit Shah and Rajnath Singh and Uttar Pradesh (UP) Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, have turned foot soldiers to win the crucial UP Assembly elections.

With the Election Commission of India (ECI) banning big political rallies and roadshows till January 31, the saffron party is making personalised outreach through intensive door-to-door campaigning by marquee leaders.

Apart from Shah, Rajnath and Adityanath, BJP national president JP Nadda and top UP party leaders, viz. deputy chief ministers Keshav Prasad Maurya and Dinesh Sharma, will also hit the campaign trail on foot to canvass for party candidates, especially in the high-stakes Western UP belt.

The door-to-door juggernaut, which rolls out from Thursday, will witness the top BJP leaders knock at the doors of common people seeking vote and support for their candidates.

Besides, they will pay obeisance at the prominent local temples and cultural centres to subtly disseminate the message of cultural nationalism during the election time. The UP Assembly elections will be held in seven rounds in Feb and March 2022, viz. on Feb 10, 14, 20, 23, 27 and March 3 and 7.

In a prelude, Shah had on Wednesday confabulated with prominent Jat leaders to reaffirm the party’s commitment to the community at a time when the Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) has allied with the Samajwadi Party (SP) to put a spanner in the BJP’s game plan.

The farm stir and the participation by the Western UP farmers, especially in the Jat belt, is seen as an opportunity by the SP-RLD combine to dent the BJP prospects. As such, the different political parties are keenly garnering the support of the Jat community through personal dialogues and giving tickets to keep them in good humour ahead of voting.

Shah’s door-to-door itinerary from Jan 27 to Feb 2 spans Mathura, Gautam Buddha Nagar, Muzaffarnagar, Saharanpur, Rampur, Sambhal, Kannauj and Kanpur City districts.

Similarly, Adityanath would visit Bijnore, Muzaffarnagar, Badaun, Kasganj, Jalaun, Kanpur Rural, Agra, Mainpuri, Meerut and Hapur districts.

At the same time, Nadda, Rajnath Singh, UP BJP president Swatantra Dev Singh, Maurya and Sharma will also partake in the door-to-door campaign to counter the opposition narrative.

Meanwhile, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) president Mayawati is expected to address a small public meeting in Agra on Feb 2 while conforming to the ECI guidelines, which are expected to be reviewed on Jan 31.