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Mission 2024: BJP deploys Union ministers for Lok Sabha seats held by Opposition in Uttar Pradesh
The BJP and allies had won 64 of the 80 Lok Sabha seats from Uttar Pradesh in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. It recently added Azamgarh and Rampur to its tally in bypolls held on June 23.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has begun work on Mission 2024 and decided to deploy Union ministers for 14 such Lok Sabha seats in Uttar Pradesh which are held by the opposition.
The BJP and allies had won 64 of the 80 Lok Sabha seats from Uttar Pradesh in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. It recently added Azamgarh and Rampur to its tally in bypolls held on June 23. The bypolls were necessitated after Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav vacated the Azamgarh parliamentary seat and SP veteran Azam Khan quit the Rampur Lok Sabha seat following their election to the U.P. assembly in the 2022 state polls.
Union agriculture minister Narendra Singh Tomar has been tasked with the responsibility of Rae Bareli, the Lok Sabha constituency of Congress chief Sonia Gandhi. He has also been entrusted with the responsibility of Ambedkarnagar, Shravasti and Mau, BJP leaders said.
Railways minister Ashwini Vaishnaw has been given the responsibility of Saharanpur, Nagina and Bijnor. Union minister of state for science and technology Jitendra Singh has been given the responsibility of Mainpuri, the Lok Sabha constituency of SP patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav. He will also take care of Moradabad, Amroha and Sambhal. Union minister of state for education Annapurna Devi has been given responsibility of Jaunpur, Ghazipur and Lalganj.
“All the Union ministers will camp in these constituencies for a couple of days and carry feedback from there to the party leadership. Besides these Union ministers, party functionaries and ministers in the Yogi Adityanath government would also undertake visits to these constituencies,” BJP leaders said.
The feedback, party leaders said, would be scrutinised and form the basis of the party’s plan in these constituencies. A BJP leader said the party had made inroads in most of the opposition citadels in the 2022 U.P. assembly polls and would look to build on those in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
“The BJP won two of the four assembly seats in Mainpuri, the Lok Sabha seat of SP patron Mulayam Singh Yadav. These include Mainpuri Sadar assembly seat held by minister Jaivir Singh and Bhogaon held by Ram Naresh Agnihotri. Kishni and Karhal (won by SP chief Akhilesh Yadav) are the two other assembly seats in Mainpuri. In Rae Bareli, the Congress doesn’t have a single lawmaker now. Now, these two, after the fall of Azamgarh and Rampur, are the biggest constituencies with an impactful opposition presence. That is why we have shortlisted these,” a senior party leader said.
