Lucknow: The BJP’s 37th Foundation Day was celebrated with fervour across Uttar Pradesh, with party workers joining senior leaders in cleaning its state office here.
Uttar Pradesh BJP chief and Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya was seen sweeping the office premises with a broom while party workers distributed sweets to visitors.
The BJP, which was formed on this day in 1980, came back to power in Uttar Pradesh after a hiatus of 15 years, with an overwhelming majority.
It bagged 312 out of 403 seats in the UP Assembly polls, while its allies the Apna Dal (Soneylal) and the Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Partygot won nine and four seats respectively.
This took the overall tally of the BJP and its allies to 325 seats in the 403-member assembly.
“On this very day in 1980, Atal Bihari Vajpayee had ushered in a ray of hope among the party workers with his famous lines ‘Andheraa Chhategaa, Suraj Niklegaa, Kamal Khilegaa’ (Darkness will disappear, Sun will appear, Lotus will bloom),” UP BJP spokesperson Manish Shukla said.
“Today, we have realised the above lines in letter and spirit,” he said.
The spokesperson said it is a pleasant coincidence that the auspicious period of Navratra preceded the foundation day of the BJP.
The celebrations will continue till April 14, the birth anniversary of Dr B R Ambedkar.
Shukla said party workers will also gear up themselves for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, and start the preparations as soon as possible.
—PTI