Uttar Pradesh elections: BJP core committee holds 10-hour-long meet, round 2 today
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) held a meeting of its core committee in Delhi on Tuesday to discuss the strategy for Uttar Pradesh assembly elections, news agency ANI reported.
The meeting was held on a day when UP minister Swami Prasad Maurya and three other state lawmakers quit the BJP. They are expected to join the Samajwadi Party.
Union home minister Amit Shah chaired the meeting on Tuesday, according to ANI, which was attended by BJP’s Uttar Pradesh poll in-charge Dharmendra Pradhan, party’s UP general secretary (Organization) Sunil Bansal and national general secretary (organization) BL Santhosh, chief minister Yogi Adityanath, deputy CM Keshav Prasad Maurya and state party chief Swatantra Dev Singh.
BJP president Jagat Prakash Nadda, who recently tested positive for Covid-19, also joined the meeting virtually, according to ANI.
The news agency said that Shah conducted a sector-wise review of key areas and took feedback from the regional in charges about the ground reality in the state.
He also held detailed discussion on the outline of the future programmes of the election campaign, in view of the Election Commission’s order banning rallies, ANI reported.
In the meeting, the leaders also discussed the seats of western Uttar Pradesh along with those which could be fielded in the first and second phases of the seven-phased electoral exercise in the state.
The names of the candidates considered in Tuesday’s meeting will be placed before the Central Election Committee on Thursday for the final go-ahead from the top leadership, according to ANI.
The meeting of the core committee lasted for 10 hours and will resume at 11am on Wednesday in which further discussion is expected to take place on election strategy, the ANI report said.
Elections for the 403 assembly constituencies in Uttar Pradesh will be held in seven phases starting February 10, the Election Commission said. The polling in Uttar Pradesh will be held on February 10, 14, 20, 23, 27 and March 3 and 7 in seven phases.
The counting of votes will take place on March 10.