BJP gears up for Amethi push with ‘mega’ PM rally
Yogi tasks BJP lawmakers to ensure ‘massive attendance’ for rally
LUCKNOW: Chief minister Yogi Adityanath visited Amethi on Thursday ostensibly to attend the video conference of Prime Minister Narendra Modi for BJP’s ‘Mera Booth Sabse Majboot’ programme.
However, Yogi’s visit, along with that of UP BJP chief Mahendra Nath Pandey, was more to take stock of preparations for Modi’s March 3 rally in Congress chief Rahul Gandhi’s Lok Sabha constituency.
The rally ground in Kauhar, Gauriganj, where Modi would arrive after attending a government function in Korba Munshiganj, has a capacity to accommodate around 1.5 lakh people. The BJP is anxious to get as many people, which would easily make it the biggest party show in the Congress bastion.
In 2017 UP polls, the BJP had won 4 of the 5 assembly seats that make the Amethi Lok Sabha constituency, with SP winning one. The BJP is now claiming that, coupled with a dip in the victory margin of Gandhi, the failure of the Congress to open its account in assembly seats indicates BJP’s growing political clout.
That’s why both UP CM and state BJP chief tasked cadres and party lawmakers to ensure a “massive attendance” for Modi’s rally on March 3.
The Congress laughed at the BJP’s Amethi push. “The BJP has governments both in UP and at the centre and might as well mobilise crowd. But it would be interesting to see how many locals from Amethi they are able to mobilise,” said Congress leader Nadeem Ashraf ‘Jaisi’ from ‘Jais’ area of Amethi.
Yogendra Mishra, the Amethi district Congress chief, said they would also want the BJP to look back at Modi’s rally in Amethi on the last day of the 2014 LS campaign and the commitments he had made. “We intend to expose the BJP and its top leadership. Their guest appearances and tall promises won’t be able to break the familial bond Congress shares with people here,” he said. “Remain active and vigilant till March 3. All eyes are on Amethi and in today’s situation the PM’s Amethi visit is all the more important. We must guard against miscreants and ensure that the rally is a success,” Pandey said.The BJP also plans to get beneficiaries of Ayushman Bharat and those farmer families from Amethi which have already received the first instalment of PM-KISAN to the rally.