NEW DELHI: Aiming to make inroads into the Congress bastion in the Garhwal region of the poll-bound Uttarakhand, the BJP is gearing up to make full use of turncoats led by former chief minister Vijay Bahuguna to wrest power in the state.
The BJP is seeking to turn the heat on the stronghold of the incumbent chief minister Harish Rawat, who is considered to command strong followings in the Garhwal region.
While the Garhwal region sends 42 MLAs to the state Assembly, the Kumaon hills of the state have rest 28 constituencies. The BJP chief Amit Shah is all set to flag off the Parivartan Yatra on November 13 from the state capital Dehradoon, which will conclude in Haldwani on December 7.
The BJP appears counting on the strong presence of the Armed forces personnel in Uttarakhand to project strong leadership of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the decision to launch the surgical strike to destroy the terrorists' launch pads in the Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK).
"The BJP is counting on nine Congress MLAs who defected after raising a banner of revolt against the incumbent chief minister to win the most number of seats in the Garhwal region. Most of them hail from the Garhwal region and they will prove effective to expose the false claims of development by the Congress government," said a senior BJP functionary.
The BJP spokesperson Anil Baluni said that the party chief will hold three rallies in Uttarakhand during the course of the Parivartan Yatra, which has been modelled on similar campaigns to be flagged off in UP.
"Uttarakhand is well known for its tradition of a large number of people joining the Armed forces. The decision to go for a surgical strike to neutralise the terrorists before they sneaked into the country will definitely be welcomed by the people in the state," added Baluni.
Led by Bahuguna, Congress MLAs - Rekha Arya, Harlal Singh Rawat, Amruta Rawat, Shailendra Mohan, Kumar Pranav Singh, Subodh Uniyal, Pradeep Batra, Shaila Rani Rawat and Umesh Singh - had rebelled against the chief minister and later they had joined the BJP.
However, the BJP is also wary of the fact that while the party props up the turncoats in the state, it will also have to deal with leaders within its ranks who are known for their unbridled ambitions.
The BJP has tasked party leader Balraj Pasi to organise the Parivartan Yatra. Pasi had made the fame after he had trounced Narayan Dutt Tiwari from the Nainital Lok Sabha constituency in 1996.