17 union ministers including Manohar Parrikar, Radhe Mohan Singh, Nitin Gadkari to tour Uttar Pradesh

LUCKNOW: BJP is embarking on a massive image building exercise in Uttar Pradesh with visits by 17 ministers of Narendra Modi government to 23 Lok Sabha constituencies this month in the politically crucial state where assembly elections are due next year.

"To highlight the Centre's achievements, each minister would tour the state for two days on different dates," BJP spokesman Vijay Bahadur Pathak said here today.

Surface Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar and HRD Minister Smriti Irani are among the ministers scheduled to visit the state.

The others include Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh, Minister of Food and Public distribution Ram Vilas Paswan, Chemical and fertiliser minister Ananth Kumar Gorakhpur and Science and Technology Minister Harshvardhan (Saharanpur), according to Pathak.

During their visits, the Union Ministers would interact with different sections of the society, including intellectuals and business community, and take their views ahead of the budget session, he said.

He attacked the Congress saying it was running from debate when it was in power and was doing the same when in opposition.

"When it was in power, the opposition party shied away from debate on issues relating to the common people and now they have been disrupting Parliament, when the government was willing to discuss," Pathak told PTI.