Women to dominate UP campaign scene

Political parties in Uttar Pradesh might not have shown them preference while selecting candidates, but the women leaders of the state are all set to dominate the campaigns for the Assembly elections.

Women leaders of almost all the major political parties, many of whom are campaigning for the first time, have made it to the list of star campaigners. In the Samajwadi Party (SP), Dimple Yadav, Lok Sabha member from Kannauj and wife of Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav, will be campaigning for party candidates for the very first time.

The Congress has included Priyanka Gandhi Vadra in the list of its star campaigners. While Priyanka has campaigned in the constituencies of Raebareli and Amethi for her mother Sonia Gandhi and brother Rahul Gandhi, respectively, this is the first time that she will campaign in the other parts of the state.

Dimple and Priyanka are likely to address election rallies together, in view of the alliance between the Congress and SP.

Actor-turned-politician Jaya Bachchan and Congress president Sonia Gandhi will also join the campaigns, though sources said that they would address fewer rallies.

Though Prime Minister Narendra Modi is the star campaigner for the BJP in the state, Union minister Smriti Irani – who lost the 2014 Lok Sabha polls from Amethi – and actor-turned-politician Hema Malini – Mathura MP – will campaign aggressively for the party.

Union ministers Maneka Gandhi and Sadvi Niranjan Jyoti will also seek votes for BJP candidates in the state.

Anupriya Patel, Union minister and leader of the Apna Dal, an alliance partner of the BJP, will join hands with Smriti and Hema in the campaigns.

As for the BSP, party chief  Mayawati is the lone woman star campaigner. She is expected to address around five dozen election rallies across the state for her party’s nominees.

BJP cuts down Modi rallies in UP
Though Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be leading the BJP campaign in the Assembly elections, the party has decided to cut down on his rallies in the Uttar Pradesh, DHNS reports from Lucknow. According to state BJP sources, Modi, who was expected to kick off his campaign from western Uttar Pradesh on February 4, will be addressing about 12 meetings. “The prime minister will be addressing election meetings in every phase... in some phases, there may be only meetings, while there may be more of his rallies in some other phase,” a senior state BJP leader said.
The venue of the prime minister’s election rallies has not been decided yet, the leader added.