NEW DELHI: With polls looming, BJP chief Amit Shah on Saturday went into a huddle with Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath to prepare the saffron outfit for the Lok Sabha elections. Shah in the day also reviewed the ground reports from poll bound states - Chhatishgarh, Madhya Pradesh, and Rajsthan.
Shah is learnt to have discussed the scope and manner of the Cabinet reshuffle in UP. The BJP chief also took stock of the progress made by the UP government on key tasks, including expeditious coverage of the flagship Central welfare schemes in the state. Sources said that Shah and Yogi were joined in the meeting by close to half a dozen senior party leaders.
The BJP chief has been holding regular meetings with Yogi since the rout of the saffron outfit in the Lok Sabha byelections in Gorakhpur and Phulpur. "The Cabinet reshuffle in the state is on the card, with the party looking at the prospects of getting the caste representation in the government right, besides dispelling the perception that the Yogi government is inaccessible to the people. The BJP chief is keeping a close look at the performance of the UP government since the state is key to BJP's bid to defend most of the Lok Sabha constituencies won in 2014," sources said.
Earlier in the day, the BJP chief brainstormed over the emerging trends of the party ruled states heading for Assemble elections later this year. "The BJP in-charges for Chhatishgarh, Madhya Pradesh, and Rajasthan shared details of their reports with Shah. The BJP national general secretaries, including Anil Jain, Bhupendra Yadav, and others were part of the deliberations," sources added.
Incidentally, the BJP had earlier spelt out 60-point agenda for UP, besides 22-point agenda for others states, including MP, Chhatishgarh, MP, and Rajasthan. "While the BJP is sensing a kind of relief on the grounds of the spectre of grand Opposition alliance falling flat with the BSP not going with the Congress, the leaders still are paying serious attention to counter the anti-incumbency factor, which is visible in all the three states," sources said.
With the BJP already gone in poll mode, the thrust in the saffron outfit is to keep the party workers well prepared for the elections by engaging them in a number of political activities, besides beefing up resources at the polling booth level, sources stated.