By Faisal Fareed, TwoCircles.net
Poorvanchal, the eastern region of Uttar Pradesh is referred as gateway to power at Lucknow. The reason being that it commands the highest number of seats-117-in nearly 28 districts.
With poor result in 2012, this time BJP has thrown all its weight behind conquering the region. From inducting ministers in cabinet to rolling out projects and rallies by senior leaders, Poorvanchal now remains first priority of the saffron brigade.
The importance of Poorvanchal region can be gauged from the fact that Prime Minister has addressed five rallies in the region during past seven months. In 2012 assembly polls, this Poorvanchal region has proved to be the weakest link for BJP as it got only 12 of the 117 seats.
Ruling Samajwadi Party too has started his election campaign officially from Ghazipur district while BJP began its Parivartan Yatra from Ballia. The BJP had swept through the region in 2014, winning 18 Lok Sabha seats, with Mulayam Singh’s triumph in Azamgarh the only exception.
For 2017, BJP is not leaving anything to chance. It is focusing on Gorakhpur division which has 62 seats, and where they won only 8 seats in 2012. This time the BJP brigade is going full throttle. Firebrand leader and Yogi Adityanath has been given command of the region, and his outfit Hindu Yuva Vahini is active in the eastern region.
The region also shares border both with Nepal internationally and Bihar within the country. BJP has already tied up with Bhartiya Samaj Party of Om Prakash Rajbhar, which has considerable clout among Rajbhar community. BJP is also trying the development agenda, with foundation stones for factories and hospitals being laid in the region by the central government.
Already, four MPs from Poorvanchal have been given place in cabinet—Anupriya Patel of Mirzapur, Mahendranath from Chandauli, Manoj Sinha of Ghazipur and Kalraj Mishra of Deoria.
Going by the performance of BJP in 2012, it seems that it cannot go down any further and hence an aggressive campaigning is expected to yield good result for the Lotus.