LUCKNOW: UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath is scheduled to lay the foundation stone of the much awaited Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) commando training centre in Saharanpur on Tuesday -- in a development that could presumptively arm the BJP to amplify its “nationalist” stance ahead of state polls.
The centre will come up in Deoband which also houses the famous Islamic seminary, Darul Uloom. Straddling over 2000 sq mts, the centre is proposed to train around 100 commandos who will keep a hawk-eyed vigil in the communally sensitive west UP. It will also have at least 15 IPS officers on duty. The UP government plans to set up such ATS centres at other places also, including Meerut, Bahraich, Shravasti, and GB Nagar.
“It is a crucial project for the security of the region and for strengthening the feeling of nationalism amongst people,” said BJP’s Saharanpur district president Mahendra Saini, confirming Yogi's itinerary to the district on Tuesday. This will be the second key project in the district, after Ma Shakumbhari Devi University, for which the foundation stone was laid by Union home minister Amit Shah last month.
BJP has been finding Saharanpur a tough political ground though it won four -- Deoband, Gangoh, Rampur Maniharan (SC) and Nakur -- out of seven in the 2017 assembly when the saffron outfit stormed to power with an overwhelming majority. Saharanpur (Dehat) and Behat were won by Congress while the Samajwadi Party won Saharanpur (city) seat.
In 2012, BJP could register a win only in Saharanpur Nagar. In fact, the SP which had then come to power with full majority, too, could win only Deoband. It was Mayawati’s BSP which bagged four seats while Congress won the Gangoh seat. Experts said that an interesting poll contest is expected in the district which has a sizable population of Jat, Dalits and Muslims.
