Realising that the party was losing its base in UP, the Bharatiya Janata Party has decided to send its Union ministers to halt for at least a night in villages to assess local problems and make locals aware about achievements of the Union government.
The party released a list of three Union ministers, who will tour different parts of the state in the next fortnight. Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment, Vijay Sampala will tour Bahraich from January 18-20, Union Surface Transport minister Nitin Gadkari will tour lucknow for two days on January 20 and 21 and Minister of State MSME, Giriraj Kishore Singh will go to Faizabad on January 23.
A senior BJP leader told ‘The Pioneer’ on Monday that these ministers will be accompanied with senior leaders and law makers of that region. They will interact with masses by holding chaupals to know their problems.
The party has adopted this strategy after it suffered a humiliating defeat in Bihar Assembly polls and it is now clear that the party was losing its vote bank in UP too. With both its main rivals - the SP and the BSP, having started the exercise to strengthen their support base at the grass roots level, the BJP too decided to sensitise its vote bank.
“These ministers will apprise people about the good work being done by the Modi government at the Centre. They will talk about Jan Dhan Yojana and other schemes that are destined to benefit the people at large,” the BJP leader said. He said the exercise would help the Union ministers to understand problems people are facing so that they can plan future schemes accordingly.