JOIN USThe BJP is pushing the Modi government to give an enhanced relief package to the parched Bundelkhand ahead of the elections in Uttar Pradesh, as it eyes an opportunity to improve its performance in the 19 Assembly segments of that region.
The Centre had released under the Bundelkhand package, conceived by the former UPA government, more than Rs 4,000 crore for the region spread across UP and Madhya Pradesh, and UP’s share was Rs 1,845 crore.
Sources in the BJP said the party leaders have approached Prime Minister Narendra Modi asking him to announce special assistance, drawn from the Union water resource ministry, to offer long-term drought mitigation solution for poor people of the Bundelkhand region.
The 19 Assembly constituencies of UP are housed in seven districts of Lalitpur, Jhansi, Chitrakoot, Mahoba, Banda, Hamirpur and Jalaun.
The initial plans worked out by the BJP was that Modi would address a rally after offering prayers at Shakumbhri temple in Saharanpur on Dussehra -- October 11. In that rally, he would have reached out to the people of Bundelkhand region, but that did not work out and Modi will now be celebrating Dussehra in Lucknow.
The water resource ministry was in fact asked to be ready with information about the region so that the prime minister could obtain resource material if the plan clicks, said sources.
But the party leaders have not given up hope. The BJP fared badly in this region in the 2012 polls, picking up only three of the 19 seats , said sources.