As polling ends for the fifth phase of elections in Uttar Pradesh, the contest now remains for the crucial eastern part of the State and Prime Minister Narendra Modi is determined to give it that extra bit of push.
Senior BJP office-bearers confirmed to The Hindu that Mr. Modi would be holding three rallies on successive days in the area from March 3 to 5.
“He will be in Jaunpur on March 3 and in Mirzapur on March 4 and will hold a public meeting in his Lok Sabha constituency of Varanasi on March 5,” said a senior national office-bearer of the party.
Party leaders say that their own internal reports suggest that the BJP is poised to make a strong showing in these last two phases of this long drawn out and keenly contested election. “We are determined that our most popular face will press home our advantage,” said the office-bearer.
The messaging of the last two phases has been centred on securing a decisive verdict, and the ending of backwardness, particularly in the eastern part of the State.
Mr. Modi told a public gathering in Mau on Monday: “The SP and BSP say their seats may decrease and they may fall short but no one else should get a majority so that they can do deals later.” BJP’s State unit chief Keshav Prasad Maurya said the statement by Mr. Modi was an appeal to the electorate to give a decisive verdict.
