With elections in Dec, it is now 'Mission Gujarat' for UP ministers led by Yogi

Lucknow, Nov 6 Uttar Pradesh will now play a key role in BJP's 'Mission Gujarat'.

Ministers from the Yogi Adityanath government are being deployed in Gujarat for the election campaign.

The Assembly elections in Gujarat will be held in two phases on December 1 and 5.

The BJP has been in power in Gujarat for 27 years and this is the first time that the ruling party faces a double challenge from the Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).

Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya said, "We will win Gujarat by a big margin again. In Prime Minister Narendra Modi, we have got the world's most popular leader. As Gujarat chief minister, the model of development showcased by Modi, has become a template for all states to emulate. Because of him, there is always pro-incumbency in Gujarat. However, we never become complacent and fight every election with zeal and determination."

According to party sources, while Yogi Adityanath will be addressing multiple meetings in Gujarat, about a half a dozen ministers from Uttar Pradesh will be camping in the state throughout the campaign.

Incidentally, Yogi Adityanath has emerged as a star campaigner for the BJP and, after Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he is in maximum demand for the election meetings.

"The ministers will be stationed in various constituencies and when one batch returns, another will take over. The modalities have almost been worked out," said a senior party functionary.

Interestingly, Uttar Pradesh is also poised for municipal elections in December the party will focus on Gujarat as well as UP.

The party will deploy UP ministers in constituencies that have a sizeable workforce from UP.

The largest share of migrants in Gujarat are from Uttar Pradesh some 10 lakh and 91 per cent of them have settled in the urban areas.

It is noteworthy that despite winning successive elections, the BJP, in 2017, posted its worst performance in the state by winning only 99 of the total 182 seats.

The Congress got 77 seats in the 2017 Gujarat polls which were the first state polls that the BJP contested without Modi as the chief minister.

Gujarat is the home state of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah.

The BJP, this time, faces the challenge of countering the anti-incumbency factor which is bound to build up over 27 years.

The party hopes to dilute this factor by deploying charismatic leaders like Yogi Adityanath in the campaign.

Besides, apart from Congress, the BJP is being challenged by the AAP in Gujarat.

"Of course, we will win. We have been growing. After repeatedly getting elected in Delhi and Punjab, we are being preferred as an alternative to the Congress. In Delhi and in Punjab, we have lived up to our commitments and this is what is making the BJP nervous. Watch the results. We will win big," AAP leader Nadeem Ashraf Jaisi said.

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