Ahead of Lok Sabha polls, Yogi seeking synergy between party and government

In the run-up to the 2019 Lok Sabha poll, ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is looking at fostering synergy between the party organisation and Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh for reaping  electoral dividends.

This has become imperative in the backdrop of the opposition joining forces against the saffron outfit, especially regional heavyweights Samajwadi Party (SP) and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP). The combine has already cost BJP four seats, including three parliamentary seats in key constituencies of Gorakhpur, Phulpur and Kairana, apart from loss of public face.

With about 10 months left for the next general election, BJP mascot and Prime Minister Narendra Modi and party president Amit Shah have started touring UP, which elects the maximum number of 80 Member of Parliaments (MPs) and is key to any party hoping to form the next government at the Centre.

Last week, Modi had visited Azamgarh to lay the foundation of Rs 230 billion Purvanchal Expressway. Earlier this month, BJP president Amit Shah had visited Mirzapur and Varanasi districts in Eastern UP and taken stock of the ground situation before the party gets into election mode.

On Saturday, Modi is slated to address a farmers’ rally in the western UP district of Shahjahanpur, which comes close in the heels of the Centre announcing a steep hike in the minimum support price (MSP) of kharif crops, including paddy and millets.

To galvanise the party organisation ahead of the crucial poll, a party meeting was held here today, which was attended by Adityanath, state organisation secretary Sunil Bansal, UP party president Mahendra Nath Pandey, two deputy CMs viz. Keshav Prasad Maury and Dinesh Sharma, apart from several ministers and senior party functionaries.

According to sources, the party discussed the suggestions offered by Shah to further fine tune the organisation before the big election so as to preempt the opposition strategy and prevent division of the party vote bank. The party has identified three focus areas to strengthen the organisation viz. backwards, dalits and farmers.

In the meeting, it was also decided to hold the state party executive in Meerut on 11-12 August. Shah is likely to attend the meeting. The party has decided to go for aggressive publicity of its flagship projects and schemes in the coming months.

Senior ministers have started to push projects in their departments. UP industry minister Satish Mahana took the stock of the various projects, the foundation of which would be laid by Modi at a high ticket event in Lucknow on July 29. Modi would launch projects totalling Rs 550 billion with the top brass of the India Inc in full attendance. Those expected at the ‘Rising UP, Powering New India’ event include Mukesh Ambani, Gautam Adani, Nandan Nilekani, Kumar Mangalam Birla, Subhash Chandra, N Chandrasekaran, CII chairman Rakesh Bharti Mittal etc.