Union Home Minister and Bharatiya Janata Party’s key strategist Amit Shah will visit Mandya and Bengaluru Rural districts in the electorally-key Old Mysore Region, the Vokkaliga heartland the BJP hopes to make inroads into, on a two-day visit starting Thursday night. The visit will also see Mr. Shah closeted with party leaders in preparation for the upcoming Assembly polls.
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Mr. Shah will attend three events in Gejjalagere, Mandya, Palace Grounds, Bengaluru, and Devanahalli, Bengaluru Rural district, all related to the cooperative sector. He will address a public rally in Mandya district on Friday.
Fight for foothold
“The upcoming 2023 elections will be mainly fought in the Old Mysuru Region, where Congress and JD(S) are traditional rivals. BJP will put up a strong fight in the region. Mr. Shah’s visit to Mandya and Devanahalli are only signs of things to come,” said a senior party functionary.
Mr. Shah, the first Union Cooperation Minister, is also keen to woo those in the sector traditionally believed to act as force multipliers to a political party.
Series of meetings
Mr. Shah’s two-day visit will also see him hold strategy meetings with senior leaders for the upcoming Assembly elections. On Friday and Saturday, Mr. Shah will hold breakfast meetings with senior leaders. Cabinet expansion and a host of other issues including reservation tangle will be discussed during the sessions, sources said. He will also address a meeting of the party’s booth agents and page pramukhs, in preparation of the upcoming Assembly polls on Saturday evening, before leaving for Delhi.