Ghazipur (Uttar Pradesh), : Having won 26 of the 27 seats in eastern Uttar Pradesh in 2014 and under pressure to retain its hold, BJP has decided to launch an aggressive blitzkrieg keeping Prime Minister
Narendra Modi as the chief campaigner.
He will be addressing a rally on Saturday at Ghazipur, from where Union Minister Manoj Sinha is seeking re-election.
Mr Modi will also address a rally at Deoria on Sunday and there are plans for similar rallies at Kushinagar, Ballia and Ghosi Lok Sabha constituencies.
Traffic was hit in the region owing to Prime Minister’s election rally at Azamgarh on Thursday and his scheduled Ghazipur rally on Saturday, May 11.
Several private vehicle and pubic buses moving into Ghazipur were diverted towards Varanasi, sources said.
Eyewitness account said vehicles traveling between Gorakhpur, Ghazipur, Azamgarh and Varanasi were also affected.
After May 12 polling, obviously focus will shift to final phase of polling in eastern UP including in Varanasi, Gorakhpur and other such key constituencies.
According to BJP sources, party chief Amit Shah and Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh will also address a number of election rallies in the region.
The BJP had lost only Azamgarh seat in this region in 2014 to Samajwadi Party stalwart Mulayam Singh Yadav.
This time his son and new Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav is contesting from Azamgarh. Prime Minister Modi addressed an election rally at Azamgarh on Thursday and sought people’s support to his Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas mission across the board.
With substantial Yadavs, Muslims, other OBC groups and Dalits – this region offers a big challenge to the saffron party poll strategists to repeat their 2014 success.
On the whole at the state level, the BJP had won 71 seats on it own out of 80 while its ally Apna Dal had picked up two.
However, the alliance struck by Samajwadi Party – which has a grip over Yadav and OBC vote share – and BSP of Mayawati – which has a larger say among Dalits – have changed the caste equations against the BJP.
But people talk about development in Ghazipur and adjoining places under the stewardship of Union Minister and sitting MP Manoj Sinha.
Local residents of the constituency also see the poll battle as ‘PM Modi versus the rest’ and this theory may help BJP to retain the seat.
(UNI)
