The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Uttar Pradesh is getting ready in election mode after the appointment of the new State president Bhupendra Singh Chaudhary and organisation secretary Dharampal with both the leaders doing continuous tours of the State with a special focus on western U.P. where the saffron party’s performance in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls was not at par with the eastern part. In the past few days Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has been focusing on eastern U.P. visiting districts like Mau, Ghazipur, Jaunpur and Varanasi highlighting his government’s commitment against corruption and crime.
“The appointment of the State president and the organising secretary both from western U.P. highlights that the Party is focusing on that part, as we lost at least eight parliamentary seats there in the 2019 polls. We are also focusing on the eastern part as well,” said Hero Vajpayee, U.P. BJP spokesperson.
In the 2019 Parliamentary elections, the saffron party lost crucial seats like Amroha, Sambhal, Saharanpur, Bijnor, Moradabad, Nagina and Rampur in West U.P. Moreover in the 2022 State Assembly polls, the ruling party lost many Assembly seats in districts like Saharanpur, Sambhal, Meerut, Muzaffarnagar, Moradabad and Rampur. Therefore the appointment and focus of the new party leadership in the west was obvious.
"The BJP may also declare the new State team after the local bodies elections scheduled for November-December. The local bodies elections for 199 Nagar Palika parishads and roughly 440 Nagar panchayats are expected to be announced soon and afterwards the State team could be formed keeping in mind the 2024 Lok Sabha polls," said Mr. Vajpayee. The new State general secretary(organisation) and State president have started the tour from the western part and both will complete the meetings of all the six organisational regions and district in the coming weeks. The BJP has divided the State which sends 80 Lok Sabha seats into six organisational zones/regions.
While the focus of the BJP State president and secretary is to reach out to the zonal, district and finally to booth level workers and strengthen the organisation, the CM is focusing on his government’s works claiming that the State had been made riot-free by ending the mafia rule.
Speaking in Jaunpur on Friday, Mr. Yogi said, “In the last five years, as the State has been made riot-free by ending the mafia rule, the government would start a similar campaign against corruption soon. Acting on the policy of zero-tolerance, the Government will seize the ill-gotten wealth of the corrupt and utilize it for the benefit of the poor.”
Targeting the previous governments for their inaction over corruption, the CM added, “Corruption was in their genes. They used to make schemes to benefit their own contractors and people. The 'price' of every 'work' was fixed in advance. Before 2017, a few rackets used to operate in the State that acted like termites in development works, for which the entire State had to bear the brunt. Today, in examinations or appointments, there is fairness and transparency everywhere.”
