UP Polls: Home Minister Shah To Hold Door-To-Door Campaign

The visit is his first since the election has been announced

New Delhi: Just weeks before the Uttar Pradesh Assembly the election polls, BJP moved into high gear Saturday with Home Minister Amit Shah, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, and party chief JP Nadda on the campaign trail in politically key western Uttar Pradesh, which votes on February 10.

The Union Home Minister Amit Shah will hold a door-to-door campaign in Kairana district - where the BJP hopes to use the 'Hindu migration' controversy - and address a public meeting in Shamli.

The visit is supposed to be his first since the election has been announced.

Meanwhile, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi will be in Aligarh and Bulandshahr, Mr. Nadda will be on the road in Bijnor, and the BJP's state unit chief, Swatantra Dev Singh, will be in Saharanpur.

Mr. Shah has been given charge of the BJP's campaign in western UP, where the party did remarkably well in 2017, winning 83 of 108 seats, and the 2014 and 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

Western UP is a significant battleground because of the concentration of farmers, who are widely seen as being upset with the ruling party over the farm laws issue. Their votes will be key; Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav hopes it will be part of a "pincer" movement that defeats the BJP.

Mr. Shah's choice of campaign stops is interesting - Kairana, a one-time BJP stronghold that voted for the Samajwadi Party in 2014 bypoll and 2017 - was mired in controversy before the last election for the alleged migration of Hindu families because of Muslim 'gangs'.

Amit Shah's busy schedule underlines the importance the BJP has placed on placating farmers and other voters in western UP poor results here could not only affect the party's re-election bid but also put a crimp in its prep work for the 2024 Lok Sabha election.