Shah holds meet with N- E leaders

Part of his drive to maximise seats during 2019 polls

New Delhi, June 30: BJP president Amit Shah on Saturday held meetings with his party leaders who are in- charge of 11 Lok Sabha seats spread across seven northeast states as part of a drive to ensure that it wins the maximum number of these constituencies in the general election next year.

Mr Shah held separate meetings with Lok Sabha ' toli' ( group) of Arunachal Pradesh, Tripura, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim and Manipur in Manipur, the party's media head Anil Baluni said.

Mr Baluni said that Shah was in West Bengal for two days before he arrived in Manipur. The BJP chief

would reach Odisha tomorrow.

He described his visits to these eastern and northeastern regions as part of

his party's and the Modi government's "look east" policy..

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has often spoken about his government's emphasis on the development of these regions as India cannot be strong if some of its parts remain underdeveloped and Shah has been visiting there frequently to ensure their all- round development, he said.

Except for Mizoram, the BJP is in power in all these states — as the leader of an alliance or as a junior partner.

West Bengal, Odisha and the Northeast have emerged central to Shah's plans for the 2019 Lok Sabha polls as he believes that the BJP can improve on its tally there and make up for any likely loss it may suffer in other states.