Shah, Yogi helm BJP meet to finalise UP poll campaign

Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath attended a key BJP meeting in New Delhi on Tuesday as party leaders discussed the ongoing campaign for the state assembly polls ahead of the announcement of its candidates for the initial phases in a few days.

Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya and Uttar Pradesh BJP chief Swatantra Dev Singh also attended the meeting besides several other leaders, with its national president J P Nadda, who has contracted the coronavirus, attending it virtually.

With the filing of nomination for the first phase of the seven-phase Uttar Pradesh polls set to begin from January 14, the party's CEC may meet soon to finalise the names of candidates, sources said.

The Uttar Pradesh BJP core group has been working to shortlist probable candidates for the assembly elections, especially for the seats which will go to the polls in the initial phases, they said, but there was no official statement on the confabulations in the meeting held at the party headquarters here.

The Election Commission's decision to ban rallies and roadshows due to surging Covid cases till January 15 has also prompted parties, including the BJP, to tweak its strategy with focus shifting to reaching out to voters through extensive use of social media and door to door campaigns.

Polls will be held in 58 seats in the first phase on February 10 and in 55 in the second phase on February 14, and the BJP is likely to announce the names of most of its candidates for these constituencies soon.