AMETHI (UP): BJP’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi will lead his army of heavyweights to Amethi. However the Congress continues to dither on sending its star attraction, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, to Mr Modi’s turf in Varanasi.
The BJP’s offensive at Amethi is also being viewed as its attempt to “dare” Priyanka to step out of Amethi and Rae Bareli, a BJP functionary said. While the BJP has decided to stand beside its candidate, Smriti Irani, the Congress nominee from Varanasi, Mr Ajai Rai, has been left to fend for himself by the party high command. Elections in Amethi are on May 7.
Incidentally neither Mr Modi nor any top BJP leader has campaigned in Rae Bareli, the constituency of AICC chief Sonia Gandhi. Though Mr Modi’s move to go to Amethi is apparently fraught with electoral risks as Mr Gandhi seems to have a clear edge, but the saffronites have decided to take Mr Gandhi and Priyanka head on. “We stand by our candidates, unlike Gandhis,” a BJP leader said.
Meanwhile, with two more phases to go Mr Modi has begun his final push towards eastern UP — the BJP’s weakest link. The party’s prime ministerial nominee will be addressing four rallies at Khalilabad, Basti, Gonda and Balampur constituencies of eastern Uttar Pradesh. Of nearly 33 seats in the region, 23 will go to polls in the last two phases on May 7 and May 12. In eastern Uttar Pradesh, the BJP has to win a minimum of 10 seats to cross 40 Lok Sabha berths in the state.
Eastern UP being the bastion of the SP and the BSP, the Modi-led-BJP will be playing the caste card along with the development plank. To make a dent in the dalit vote bank, the Gujarat Chief Minister had earlier invoked B.R. Ambedkar.
Also of the 78 BJP candidates (two have been given to the ally-Apna Dal) the party has given tickets to 28 OBCs.
As per electoral arithmetic, the BJP has always fought for 58 per cent of the votes. The remaining which included Muslims, Yadavs and Dalits have traditionally gone against the saffron party.
