BJP performs 'bhumi pujan' ahead of Shah's visit

The Uttarakhand BJP performed a "bhumi pujan" at the Parade Ground here on Wednesday, ahead of the visit of party president Amit Shah, who is slated to formally launch the saffron party's Lok Sabha poll campaign in the state on February 2.

Shah is scheduled to address the booth level workers of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) at the venue named as "Trishakti Sammelan".

"Trishakti" refers to the three categories of booth-level party workers -- booth adhyakshas, booth palaks and booth-level agents.

"The bhumi pujan was in line with our age-old tradition of beginning every work on an auspicious note by invoking the almighty. It gives a fitting start to the party president's visit on February 2, when he will formally launch the party's campaign for the Lok Sabha polls in the state at the venue," state BJP chief Ajay Bhatt told reporters after the ceremony.

Shah's visit is aimed at galvanising the BJP cadre ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, in which the party faces the challenge of retaining all the five seats in the state against a resurgent Congress, which recently won the Assembly polls in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.

The BJP president's visit will be the first in a series of campaign programmes to be addressed over the next 10 days in different parts of the state by senior party leaders, including Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, his deputy Dinesh Sharma and Union minister V K Singh, state BJP media chief Devendra Bhasin said.