Narendra Modi to attend BJP’s state executive in Vrindavan

LUCKNOW: The BJP is expected to roll out its strategy for UP later this month when Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi would make his first visit to the state after being appointed the chief of the party’s campaign committee.

Senior state BJP leader Vijay Bahadur Pathak said Modi would attend BJP’s state executive in Vrindavan. The dates for the executive meeting were being finalised in consultation with Modi's office to make sure he would be able to attend. Pathak said that Modi would address more than 15,000 party workers in Vrindavan, where he will disclose his strategy for the Lok Sabha campaign in UP.

“There was a huge clamour by the cadre to invite Narendra Modi to Vrindavan, to which he has agreed. The state executive meet will be held in September, but dates are not yet finalised as we are coordinating with Modiji's and other senior leaders’ availability,” said Pathak. Among the dates discussed tentatively is September 25, the birth anniversary of Deen Dayal Upadhyaya, founder of BJP's previous avatar, the Bharatiya Jan Sangh.

Vrindavan and neighboring Mathura are pilgrim towns, where BJP hopes to consolidate by adopting a strong Hindutva line to undercut deep-rooted caste affiliations of voters. Earlier, BJP general secretary incharge of UP, Amit Shah, had made a highprofile visit to Ayodhya and declared, “we wish to build a grand temple for Lord Ram at his birthplace.”

“BJP realises that to break the well-entrenched caste-based parties’ electoral hold, it will have to adopt a strident Hindutva line. They will seek to polarise voters on religious lines.

With western UP bearing the brunt of riots in recent months, it hopes to roll out its campaign from the region. The choice of Vrindavan could well be because of this,” said Prof Sudhir Panwar of Lucknow University.