LUCKNOW: The western Uttar Pradesh will again be on the electoral agenda of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) as it has started preparations for its two-day state working committee meeting in Meerut from August 11 where the party will chalk out strategy to win a minimum of 75 Lok Sabha seats from UP.
"This time target is clear, we will win more than 73 seats from Uttar Pradesh. And therefore, the preparations will start in right earnest," BJP's general secretary and in-charge of western UP Vijay Bahadur Pathak told UNI on Thursday. In 2014 elections, the BJP had won 71 seats of its own while its ally won two seats.
Thus, the NDA won 73 out of 80 seats. But in by-elections it lost three seats.
This meeting is important because the party will focus on its strategy to build rapport with the people.
Party's national president Amit Shah will address the working committee members in the concluding session.
"The party president will spell out the mantra of victory. This time our target is clear. The BJP will win more than 73 seats, including that of Amethi and Rae Bareli," Pathak said without elaborating further about the strategy.
Incidentally, in last 2014 elections, the BJP had focused on western Uttar Pradesh. At that time it exploited the Muzaffarnagar riots to the hilt giving a communal colour to the incident.
The fire that started from Muzaffarnagar engulfed the whole of UP in no time resulting in BJP winning 73 seats. The situation is different now. The BJP is in power both in state and Centre.
The non-payment of cane dues is the big issue in western UP, considered a sugarcane belt. The farmers have staged protest.
The defeat of BJP in Kairana parliamentary by-election and Noorpur Assembly bypolls has raised doubts about BJP winning at least half of the seats it had in 2014.
"Do not compare by-elections with general elections. Matrix of both the elections is different. The BJP will go to people with a report card of Modi government's achievements. People are already appreciating the move of the UP as well as the central governments and people have started receiving the benefits," he said.
The people of the state know well about the vested plan of the opposition and they will give them a benefiting reply in the elections.
The state working committee will fine tune party's strategy.
Three main points it will emphasis on will be-- one, asking leaders and workers to go to the people and tell government's achievements, two-- strengthen booth level management and three-- ensure government schemes reaches the beneficiaries.
The working committee will take up political and economic resolution and have a threadbare discussion on them.
The issues like cow protection and Ram Mandir could likely to find place in the meeting.