BJP president Amit Shah today held extensive discussions with top party leaders from Rajasthan, including Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje, and Andhra Pradesh as it prepares for the assembly election in the western state later this year and the Lok Sabha polls next year.
A party leader said a decision was taken to conduct a 'yatra' across Rajasthan to publicise works of the state and central governments and build up popular support at a time the Congress is seen to be putting up a strong fight following its impressive shows in a number of by-polls there.
Amid speculation over who will be the next Rajasthan BJP chief after Ashok Parnami quit in April, sources said the main agenda of the meeting, chaired by Shah and attended by Raje, several national general secretaries and senior state party leaders, was to formulate strategy for the elections ahead.
Shah and Raje are said to have differences over Parnami's replacement.
A decision was taken to launch extensive campaign to inform the masses about achievements of the state and central governments and a 'yatra' will also be taken out, the sources said.
In Shah's meeting with Andhra Pradesh party leaders, including state chief Kanna Lakshminarayana, it was decided that three Union ministers, including Nitin Gadkari, Piyush Goyal and Prakash Javadekar, will visit the three main regions of the state to publicise the works done by the central government for it, they said.
The two main parties in the state, the ruling TDP and the opposition YSR Congress, have been attacking the Modi government for allegedly not fulfilling the promises made by the Centre to the southern state when it was divided in 2014.
The BJP believes that it needs to launch a big outreach programme in the state to counter the "disinformation" campaign against it.
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