Yogi to be star campaigner for BJP in poll-bound states

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath will be a star campaigner for the BJP in the upcoming Assembly polls in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chattisgarh.

According to the BJP sources here, Adityanath could also campaign in Telangana and Mizoram Assembly elections.

Sources said that Adityanath would embark on the tour of the poll-bound states after 'Navratri' (nine-day long Hindu festival), as the chief minister observes fast for nine days.

''Adityanath will be addressing a series of election rallies and holding road shows in the poll-bound states... his program is being finalised,'' said a senior UP BJP leader while speaking to Deccan Herald here on Tuesday.

The leader said that there is a large number of followers of the 'Nath' sect to which Adityanath belongs, in Rajasthan districts of Alwar, Churu, Sikar and Jaipur. "Adityanath's image of a hard line Hindutva leader will come handy for us in the poll-bound states, especially MP and Rajasthan,'' the leader added.

Saffron clad UP chief minister had extensively campaigned for the BJP in the Assembly polls in Karnataka and Gujarat.

Besides the BJP also plans to use Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya in the campaign to woo the backward caste votes.

Sources said that around two dozen UP ministers and several senior state leaders would be deployed in the poll-bound states. The ministers and leaders, who hail from the districts of Lalitpur, Jhansi, Agra, Etawah and Chitrakoot, which lay on the borders of MP and Rajasthan, had been entrusted with the responsibility of ensuring victory for the party nominees in the bordering districts.