LUCKNOW: Terming home minister Amit Shah as a leader who reinforced ‘Bharatiyata’, while putting welfare of poor, farmers, youth and women in BJP’s political agenda, UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Friday said, a robust organisational strength of the saffron outfit will hold the key to party’s electoral prospects in UP polls due in next few months.
Crediting Shah for turning BJP into world’s largest political outfit, the chief minister exhorted party functionaries to leave “no stone unturned” to meet the target fixed by the party organisation for a grand electoral success. Yogi was speaking at an event to flag off BJP membership campaign by Shah.
The event was attended by functionaries from Awadh region comprising 13 districts (86 assembly seats), including Ayodhya, the epicentre of Hindutva politics. “It’s the party worker who has been challenging divisive forces and defeating them to establish BJP as a strong political force,” he said.
Yogi categorically credited Modi and Shah for removing a 500-year-old "kalank" by ensuring construction of Ram Temple in Ayodhya. "Aaj har Bharatiya garv ki anubhuti karta hai...,” he said, adding the BJP membership drive will make ‘Deepotsav’ in Ayodhya a grand spectacle to be watched by the nation and world. “BJP did whatever it said, be it welfare of the poor or unifying the country as a whole," he said.
In a veiled attack on opposition parties, Yogi said, "Bharatiyata" was not recognised before BJP came to power in 2014. "A new national awareness arose when BJP formed the government under the leadership of PM Narendra Modi," he said, asserting UP played a crucial role in increasing BJP’s footprints.
"It was Amit Shah, who as a UP in charge of the party, went to every district to establish a strong connect with people and this proved to be a game changer and brought BJP to power," said the UP CM.
