Yogi to campaign extensively in Gujarat

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath will be campaigning extensively in the poll-bound states of Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh.
A source said Adityanath's campaign programme was being given final touches by the party and the chief minister would be criss-crossing almost the entire state of Gujarat.

Adityanath, who had recently embarked on a two-day visit to Gujarat, had drawn good crowds, prompting the senior leaders to rope him as one of the star campaigners, the state leaders said.

"Adityanath is a good orator....he also enjoys a hard line 'Hindutva' leader image...he will prove to be a crowd puller in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh," said a senior BJP leader here.
The BJP leader said that Adityanath, who, before his anointment as the chief minister, was considered to be a local leader, whose dominance was confined to Gorakhpur and some nearby eastern districts of Uttar Pradesh (UP), was extensively used in the western region in this year's UP Assembly polls.

"The experiment paid rich dividends and BJP was able to sweep the western region," he added.

He said that Gujarat also had a large number of people, who have migrated from UP, and Adityanath could clinch their support.

"The BJP feels that it is on a weak wicket in Gujarat and therefore is desperate to play the 'Hindutva' card," said Samajwadi Party leader Ram Govind Chaudhary.

But the BJP leaders said that it was a usual practice. "It is quite normal for the parties to use their chief ministers in Assembly polls," said BJP leader Vijay Bahadur Pathak.