Highlights
- PM Modi and BJP Chief address rally in Allahabad, kick off UP campaign
- BJP chief highlighted that BJP-ruled states are developed states
- Yesterday, BJP chief met all 71 BJP lawmakers in UP including PM Modi
Minutes after the two-day BJP National Executive was over, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah addressed a rally in Allahabad, virtually kicking off the campaign for next year's assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh. They spoke of the development the BJP has brought in states it rules and how under the current dispensation in Uttar Pradesh, the people have been shortchanged.
Here are the top 10 developments in this big story:
In his address at the Parivartan rally, PM Modi began by underscoring the importance of the elections in Uttar Pradesh, reminding the people of the watershed that the recent election in Assam has been. "The BJP had no power in northeastern states previously, but now that isn't so," he said.
Power has been alternating in the state between the ruling Samajwadi Party and Mayawati's Bahujan Samaj Party over the last few decades. Hitting out at both parties, PM Modi went on to add, "There is an interesting jugalbandi in Uttar Pradesh - five years of Mayawati and five years of Mulayam. They take turns to loot the state".
Speaking before PM Modi, party chief Amit Shah had set the tune. "If you bring BJP to UP, it will become a developed state. Where there is a BJP government, there is development," he said.
At the rally, Amit Shah mentioned Kairana, where a party legislator has claimed the Hindus were being forced to migrate. "Uttar Pradesh should not take Kairana lightly, it is a shocking event... only the BJP can defeat Samajwadi party. Kairana exodus is no ordinary event," he said.
On Sunday too, Amit Shah had flagged Kairana at the conclave, Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad had said. The party has rejected accusations by the Congress and the Samajwadi Party that it has resorted to politics of polarisation.
The centerpiece of the party's conclave had been the strategic session for the next round of assembly elections.
Amit Shah is holding a meeting today with all the lawmakers from Uttar Pradesh. PM Modi and Rajnath Singh -- who represent Varanasi and Lucknow in the Lok Sabha -- will skip the meeting.
Winning the state elections in Uttar Pradesh is now the biggest challenge before the BJP. The party had won 71 of the state's 80 seats in the 2014 general elections.
A decision on the party's chief ministerial candidates in the two key states - Uttar Pradesh and Punjab -- was not taken at the meet. Union minister Rajnath Singh, a former chief minister of Uttar Pradesh whose name was doing the rounds, is not keen to essay that role again, sources have said.
Later at the conclave, PM Modi had addressed the party workers, whom he gave a 7-point mantra to follow. These are "Sense of service, balance, patience, coordination, positive attitude, sensitivity and dialogue," Union minister Arun Jaitley quoted him as saying.
Post a comment