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BJP to launch Jan Ashirwad Yatras in UP from August 16
The newly appointed Union ministers from Uttar Pradesh would take out the yatras as the BJP seeks to scale up its connect with the people ahead of the 2022 state assembly election
The new Union ministers from Uttar Pradesh who are also Lok Sabha members would take out the BJP’s “Jan Ashirwad Yatras” in the state from August 16 to connect with the people months ahead of the 2022 UP assembly polls, party leaders said. The yatras would cover more than 3500 kilometres, touching 120 assembly constituencies.
While the seven new ministers would take out these yatras, all lawmakers and local representatives would join in when these yatras pass through their respective areas, state BJP leaders said.
The seven new faces from UP in the Modi ministry include six BJP MPs and one from the Apna Dal (Sonelal), a BJP ally.
The move comes ahead of the campaign blitzkrieg that the ruling BJP plans to launch in UP. The decision to get the Lok Sabha MPs from the state who have been made ministers to lead the “Jan Ashirwad Yatras” was taken at a dinner meeting in Delhi chaired by BJP chief JP Nadda in July.
Party leaders said these yatras were thought of after Prime Minister Narendra Modi was prevented by the Opposition from following the convention of introducing the new ministers in his team in the Lok Sabha.
UP BJP chief Swatantra Dev said the party’s state general secretary and member of legislative council (MLC) Govind Narayan Shukla has been made in-charge of these yatras that would cover several religious cities, including Ayodhya, Mathura, Kashi (Varanasi) and Chitrakoot.
“Through these yatras, the party will connect with people and also make them aware of the various policies and initiatives of the Narendra Modi government at the Centre and the Yogi Adityanath governnent in UP,” Swatantra Dev said.
BL Verma, minister of state for Development of Northeastern Region and Cooperation, will lead one of the seven yatras, from Vrindavan, Mathura on August 16. Verma is the protégé of former UP chief minister Kalyan Singh.
After covering Mathura and various assembly constituencies in Agra, Ghaziabad, Gautam Buddh Nagar and Bulandshahr, the yatra would conclude at Budaun on August 19.
While the yatra led by Verma would begin from Mathura, another one by Union minister of state for law and justice SP Singh Baghel, would start from Firozabad and conclude in Mathura.
On August 17, Union minister of state for micro, small and medium enterprises Bhanu Pratap Verma will start the yatra from Lalitpur and reach Fatehpur on August 19 via Jhansi, Mahoba, Banda and it will end in Chitrakoot.
Kaushal Kishore, the Mohanlalganj MP who is the Union minister of state for housing and urban affairs, will arrive in Lucknow on August 16 and start the yatra from Mohan, Unnao on the same day. The yatra will end at Sitapur on August 18 via Unnao, Rae Bareli and Barabanki.
Union minister of state for home affairs Ajay Mishra, too, will arrive in Lucknow on August 16 and start his yatra from Sandila, Hardoi the same day. This yatra will pass through Hardoi, Lakhimpur, Bahraich, Gonda, Ayodhya and will culminate at Ambedkar Nagar on August 19.
BJP ally and Apna Dal (S) leader Anupriya Patel, the Union minister of state for commerce and industry, will start the yatra from Prayagraj on August 18 and it will end on August 19 in Mirzapur, her Lok Sabha constituency.
Union minister of state for finance Pankaj Choudhary would start the yatra on August 16 from Basti via Barabanki, Siddharthnagar and Ayodhya. It will conclude at Choudhary’s Lok Sabha constituency Maharajganj in eastern Uttar Pradesh on August 18.
