BJP chief Shah in UP on nationwide tour

New Delhi: BJP president Amit Shah will be in Uttar Pradesh on a three-day visit from tomorrow to hold a series of meetings with local leaders and state government ministers, as part of his nationwide tour to strengthen the party.

Shah is on a 110-day non-continuous tour across states, and UP holds special significance for the BJP ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha election, as it had won an unprecedented 71 of the total 80 seats in the 2014 polls. Its ally Apna Dal had won two seats.

A party statement said Shah will hold meetings with leaders drawn from the state tomorrow in Lucknow followed by interactions with different groups from society and then with allies and other party leaders, including ministers of the UP government.

He will continue to have meetings with various party groups to take stock of their work, and will speak at an intellectual summit in the state capital.

Shah has undertaken the drive in the birth centenary year of the party’s ideologue Deen Dayal Upadhyay and the party has deployed over four lakh workers across the country to strengthen its organisation at the booth-level, the statement said.

The BJP had swept to a thumping majority in the state following the Assembly election held in March but the possibility of regional outfits, BSP and SP, coming together in the future can make the road ahead more challenging for the saffron party.

—PTI