Shah holds review of 13 seats to rev up BJP poll machinery
Addressing complaints about the MLAs not extending support to the candidates was said to be on the agenda along with how to increase the polling percentage, besides a scrutiny of the party’s outreach programmes.
Intensifying his involvement in the crucial state of Uttar Pradesh for the fourth and fifth phases of the Lok Sabha election and revving up the BJP poll machinery, Union home minister Amit Shah, hailed as the brain behind the BJP’s phenomenal wins in Uttar Pradesh in 2014 and 2019, on Sunday undertook a comprehensive review of 13 parliamentary seats in the state with party leaders in Kanpur.
Addressing complaints about the MLAs not extending support to the candidates was said to be on the agenda along with how to increase the polling percentage, besides a scrutiny of the party’s outreach programmes.
Shah spoke at length on the importance of a higher polling percentage.
A senior party leader said the BJP was concerned about the drop in polling percentage in the first two phases held on April 19 and 26.
The exercise comes after the conclusion of the first two phases of the Lok Sabha elections in 16 constituencies of Uttar Pradesh and in the midst of the campaign for the third phase during which polling will be held on 10 seats on May 7.
The 13 seats for which the review was done on Sunday will witness polling in the fourth phase on May 13.
These seats are: Kanpur city, Akbarpur, Kannauj, Farrukhabad and Etawah in the Kanpur belt, Shahjahanpur, Kheri, Unnao, Hardoi, Mishrikh, Dhaurhara, Bahraich and Sitapur elsewhere.
Amid murmurs of non-cooperation by some MLAs, chief minister Yogi Adityanath had reportedly summoned Bithoor MLA Abhijeet Singh Saanga on Friday and cautioned him to join the campaign.
The result of the rebuke was that Saanga, perhaps for the first time in five years, put up social media posts about the party nominee from Akbarpur Devendra Singh Bholey with whom he moved around on Sunday during canvassing.
At Sunday’s meeting, the candidates and the MLAs were kept away. Only 71 people comprising the regional incharge, cluster in charge, Lok Sabha in charge in the election management committee, convenors and general secretaries of booth management were present at a hotel here. Other than 71 people, UP BJP president Bhupendra Chowdhary, state general secretary (organisation) Dharampal Singh, co-in charge of Lok Sabha elections Sanjiv Chaurasia, in charge Kanpur region Anup Gupta, Awadh region in charge Sanjay Rai, Braj region in charge Sanjay Singh and Kanpur-Bundelkhand regional chief Prakash Pal were present at the meeting.
Shah also comprehensively reviewed all the 29 party programmes and public outreach campaigns launched -- from booth sammelans to ‘Nari Vandan’ -- during the past one year. The constituency-wise review scrutinised the effectiveness and impact of each programme.
The review gains significance as the fourth phase election will be held Yadavland and Awadh region, which maintains a reputation of being nobody’s forte.
Shah on Sunday arrived in Kanpur after touring the Yadavland where he held public meetings in Mainpuri and Etah, which go to polls in the third phase on May 7.
This is the first time that he has gone for such a comprehensive review to a point that he will have to spend the night in Kanpur before hitting the campaign trail again on Monday.
During the current campaign, the only other time he has stayed back overnight was in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s constituency Varanasi last week.
Haidar Naqvi
haidernaqvi@htlive.com
KANPUR: Intensifying his involvement in the crucial state of Uttar Pradesh for the fourth and fifth phases of the Lok Sabha election and revving up the BJP poll machinery, Union home minister Amit Shah, hailed as the brain behind the BJP’s phenomenal wins in Uttar Pradesh in 2014 and 2019, on Sunday undertook a comprehensive review of 13 parliamentary seats in the state with party leaders in Kanpur.
Addressing complaints about the MLAs not extending support to the candidates was said to be on the agenda along with how to increase the polling percentage, besides a scrutiny of the party’s outreach programmes.
Shah spoke at length on the importance of a higher polling percentage.
A senior party leader said the BJP was concerned about the drop in polling percentage in the first two phases held on April 19 and 26.
The exercise comes after the conclusion of the first two phases of the Lok Sabha elections in 16 constituencies of Uttar Pradesh and in the midst of the campaign for the third phase during which polling will be held on 10 seats on May 7.
The 13 seats for which the review was done on Sunday will witness polling in the fourth phase on May 13.
These seats are: Kanpur city, Akbarpur, Kannauj, Farrukhabad and Etawah in the Kanpur belt, Shahjahanpur, Kheri, Unnao, Hardoi, Mishrikh, Dhaurhara, Bahraich and Sitapur elsewhere.
Amid murmurs of non-cooperation by some MLAs, chief minister Yogi Adityanath had reportedly summoned Bithoor MLA Abhijeet Singh Saanga on Friday and cautioned him to join the campaign.
The result of the rebuke was that Saanga, perhaps for the first time in five years, put up social media posts about the party nominee from Akbarpur Devendra Singh Bholey with whom he moved around on Sunday during canvassing.
At Sunday’s meeting, the candidates and the MLAs were kept away. Only 71 people comprising the regional incharge, cluster in charge, Lok Sabha in charge in the election management committee, convenors and general secretaries of booth management were present at a hotel here. Other than 71 people, UP BJP president Bhupendra Chowdhary, state general secretary (organisation) Dharampal Singh, co-in charge of Lok Sabha elections Sanjiv Chaurasia, in charge Kanpur region Anup Gupta, Awadh region in charge Sanjay Rai, Braj region in charge Sanjay Singh and Kanpur-Bundelkhand regional chief Prakash Pal were present at the meeting.
Shah also comprehensively reviewed all the 29 party programmes and public outreach campaigns launched -- from booth sammelans to ‘Nari Vandan’ -- during the past one year. The constituency-wise review scrutinised the effectiveness and impact of each programme.
The review gains significance as the fourth phase election will be held Yadavland and Awadh region, which maintains a reputation of being nobody’s forte.
Shah on Sunday arrived in Kanpur after touring the Yadavland where he held public meetings in Mainpuri and Etah, which go to polls in the third phase on May 7.
This is the first time that he has gone for such a comprehensive review to a point that he will have to spend the night in Kanpur before hitting the campaign trail again on Monday.
During the current campaign, the only other time he has stayed back overnight was in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s constituency Varanasi last week.
