Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath's announcement of state BJP beginning its Lok Sabha campaign from Shakumbhari Temple in Saharanpur district is being seen as a move to counter the SP-BSP-RLD alliance's campaign from Deoband in the same district.
The three Uttar Pradesh alliance partners - Samajwadi Party, Bahujan Samaj Party and
Rashtriya Lok Dal are slated to hold their first joint rally at Deoband on April 7 and the choice of the venue, which has India's largest Islamic seminary, is being considered significant.
Though BJP had won the Saharanpur seat in 2014, Congress had done well there.
Adityanath had said at an event that the opposition alliance's choice of Deoband was an indication "of its orientation and priorities" and that he would kick off the Bharatiya Janata Party's campaign from the historic temple, just 40km from Deoband.
Adityanath is likely to visit the temple on March 25.
BJP President Amit Shah had launched BJP's Parivartan Yatra in 2017 from Saharanpur.
--IANS
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