BJP's good times to begin from UP, says Amit Shah

BJP general secretary Amit Shah Wednesday said good times for his party would begin from Uttar Pradesh and a National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government would be formed after the 2014 general polls.

He was talking to reporters after his arrival here on his maiden visit after being appointed the party's in charge of the politically crucial state, which sends 80 members to the Lok Sabha.

Greeted with fanfare by party office-bearers and workers, Shah told workers to gear up for the Lok Sabha polls and work on the strengths of the party, which once held supremacy in the state.

He later met senior party functionaries and office-bearers of various wings of the state BJP and was to meet senior leaders like BJP MP from Lucknow Lalji Tandon.

"The general secretary has a crowded schedule and his first visit, extending two days, should be seen more as one in which he will try and feel the party and interact with the party cadres," said state unit spokesman Vijay Bahadur Pathak.

BJP state unit chief Laxmikant Bajpai and other senior leaders said Shah's entry into the UP battlefield would help the party immensely and reverse the downslide of the party in the past one decade.

Shah's visit, originally scheduled for a day was extended by another day to enable him hold deliberations with party workers as he plans a roadmap for the party's revival here.