BJP to launch 'aggressive' campaigning after Shah releases manifesto

With barely a fortnight left for the Uttar Pradesh polls, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) plans to go full throttle with its campaigning after BJP chief Amit Shah releases the party manifesto here on Saturday, party sources said here.

A senior party leader requesting anonymity told IANS, "The 2017 manifesto for Uttar Pradesh polls will completely focus on the overall development of the state."

"It will make other parties jittery, because it will focus on all sectors," he said.

"The manifesto will also highlight the bad shape of the state in the last 15 years," he said.

According to the BJP leader, the party will raise the issue of slide in agricultural output in the state, which has now dipped to one per cent, and also highlight the problem of migration of people.

The BJP leader also described the alliance between Samajwadi Party and the Congress as the biggest "mistake" of Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav.

"This shows his desperation to gain power, but he committed the biggest mistake of his life by giving 105 seats to Congress," the BJP leader said.

"In 2012 Samajwadi Party emerged as the largest party in the state, but now with the alliance they are not in a position to emerge as the biggest party," he added.

"It shows Akhilesh's desperation for power," he said.

Elaborating why BJP didn't do aggressive campaigning in the last 20 days, he said: "We got very good traction after the (cross-LoC) surgical strikes and demonetisation in the state."

"But to maintain that potential was quite tough, so we will turn on the aggressive mode soon after the manifesto is released by Amit Shahji," he said.

The BJP leader also said that the party carried out a survey on the mood of people regarding the policies of the Narendra Modi government and said it was confident of coming to power in the state by emerging as the biggest party.

"The survey was carried out among 6.15 lakh people, and more across the country. The people supported it beyond our imagination," he said, adding that the survey was carried out between November 15 to December 31.

Explaining the reason why he expected people to vote for the BJP, he said: "The people have got an image of a credible government due to the central government's policies."

"So they shall vote for the BJP for the betterment of their livelihood in the long term, and they won't be carried away with short-term promises."

Uttar Pradesh will hold seven-phased assembly polls from February 11 to March 8.

(Anand Singh can be reached at anand.s@ians.in)

--IANS

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