Shah on two-day visit to poll-bound Chhattisgarh from Friday

BJP chief Amit Shah will be on a two-day visit to poll-bound Chhattisgarh from Friday, during which he will address the booth-level workers of the party at four places.

This will be Shah's third visit to the state within a month. The Assembly polls in Chhattisgarh are scheduled to be held in two phases next month.

"With an aim to re-energise the booth-level party workers, division-level conventions are being held on October 12 and 13, which will be addressed by Shah," BJP state general secretary Santosh Pandey told PTI Thursday.

The ruling party had set a target of "Mission 65 plus" in the 90-member Chhattisgarh Assembly and therefore, it was focussing on strengthening its booth-level workers, he said.

Shah will visit Ambikapur and Bilaspur towns on Friday to address the booth-level workers of Surguja and Bilaspur divisions respectively.

"After the programme in Bilaspur, he is scheduled to interact with a group of lawyers," Pandey said.

On October 13, the BJP chief will address party workers at Jagdalpur under Bastar division. Subsequently, he will also address the workers of Durg and Raipur divisions in state capital Raipur, he added.

"During his whirlwind tour, Shah will directly interact with the party workers of 23,632 booths," Pandey said.

According to BJP sources, after Shah's visit, the aspirants for the upcoming polls will be shortlisted and the party's Central Election Committee will later announce the names of the candidates.

As per the Election Commission's (EC's) poll schedule, the 18 Naxalism-hit constituencies of the state will go to the polls in the first phase on November 12, while polling for the rest of the 72 constituencies will be held on November 20. The counting of votes will be taken up on December 11.

The BJP has been in power in Chhattisgarh since 2003.