Kashi, Mathura, poll alliance in UP likely on agenda at BJP Chitrakoot meet

Completion of the under-construction Ram Temple at Ayodhya, Kashi Vishwanath Temple in Varanasi, Shrikrishna Janmabhoomi in Mathura, along with electoral alliance with smaller outfits in Uttar Pradesh would likely be among the agenda at the three-day training camp organised by the state Bharatiya Janata Party. The training camp began on Friday in Chitrakoot, about 300 kilometres from here, would also be a discussion site for the 2024 Lok Sabha election.

Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath, about a dozen union ministers, senior party leaders and Adityanath’s cabinet colleagues would be attending the camp, according to a senior state BJP leader here.

“Chitrakoot is the land of Lord Rama…we will of course be discussing the under-construction Ram Temple, Kashi Vishwanath, Shrikrishna Janmabhoomi,” said another senior BJP leader, who was also a camp participant.

“The road map of the forthcoming Lok Sabha polls, and the electoral strategy of the party in UP, which sends 80 MPs to the Lok Sabha, will be deliberated at the camp where senior party leaders will address about 200 members from across the state,” the leader added.

He also hinted that the new president of the UP BJP might also be announced at the Chitrakoot camp. UP party president Swatantra Deo Singh, who was also a minister in the Adityanath cabinet, has already resigned from his post.

The camp was being organised at a time when the courts were hearing petitions seeking ownership of the entire Kashi Vishwanath-Gyanvapi Mosque complex, as well as the removal of the Shahi Idgah mosque from the Shrikrishna Janmabhoomi complex in Varanasi and Mathura respectively. “These two issues have always been part of our agenda,” the BJP leader said.

Sources in the BJP said that the saffron party could consider electoral alliance with some smaller outfits in the state, in the next Lok Sabha elections. The saffron party was likely to face a tough challenge from the Samajwadi Party (SP), which doubled its tally in the recently concluded assembly polls in UP. The SP with its allied partners won 125 seats; translated into Lok Sabha seats, the party could very well be looking to win around 20 seats in the state.