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With 2022 assembly polls in mind, Amit Shah visits Uttar Pradesh
People aware of the matter said Amit Shah will have a series of meetings with the state BJP leadership to discuss the blueprint for the assembly elections that are due early next year
Union home minister Amit Shah arrived in poll-bound Uttar Pradesh on Friday for a two-day visit to launch a membership drive, flag off vehicles deployed to publicise government schemes, address the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) booth-level workers, and discuss the strategy for the assembly elections.
People aware of the matter said Shah will have a series of meetings with the state BJP leadership to discuss the blueprint for the polls that are due early next year.
He is expected to focus on the constituencies the BJP lost narrowly in the 2017 assembly polls when the BJP swept to power with 325 seats in the 403-member House. BJP managed to win just 47 seats in the 2012 assembly elections.
Shah was the BJP’s Uttar Pradesh in-charge in 2017, and for the 2014 national polls when the party won 71 out of 80 Lok Sabha seats in the state.
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He is also expected to discuss the entry of some opposition leaders into the BJP, the anti-incumbency factor, and the possible replacement of some lawmakers with younger leaders during his meetings with the state leadership.
A BJP leader said Shah is no longer the Uttar Pradesh in-charge, or the chief of the party like he was in the 2019 national polls. “And yet, his arrival to prepare the blueprint for the party’s success indicates the kind of credibility he brings... as an astute planner and a great organisational leader... This visit by Shah would surely reveal what is on the party leadership’s mind,” said a BJP leader, requesting anonymity.
A second leader said a key part of Shah’s plan is secrecy. “He ensures that internal discussions remain restricted to the party leaders... As a strategist, he surely does not wish to reveal his game plan to his opponents.”
Shah is also expected to meet the in-charges of Lok Sabha constituencies, who helped the BJP overcome a formidable alliance between the Samajwadi Party (SP) and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) by winning 64 out of 80 Lok Sabha seats in 2019.
He will also meet former lawmakers for their insights as the BJP is holding caste conferences across the state.
Irshad Ilmi, a political observer, said Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra has been very active in Uttar Pradesh while the SP also looks confident. He added the BSP is wooing Brahmins, who are counted among the BJP’s core supporters, to replicate its success in the 2007 assembly elections. “There are some newer political players... like Aam Aadmi Party and AIMIM (All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen).”
He said some of the parties are relying on soft Hindutva as the opposition is desperate to stop the BJP’s winning run. “Shah surely has a challenge... but knowing his ability to outthink opponents, it would be interesting to watch out for what he has up his sleeve.”
Booth management has been a key part of Shah’s strategy. The BJP plans to send Diwali gifts, including lotus-shaped earthen lamps, to over three million booth-level cadres. Lotus is also the BJP’s election symbol.
