: The Bahujan Samajwadi Party (BSP) will organise three major rallies in Agra, Azamgarh and Saharanpur to symbolically target Amit Shah, Mulayam Singh Yadav and Narendra Modi respectively, said party leaders who attended the BSP’s recent meet at Saharanpur.
Party workers were told that the September 11 rally at Saharanpur would be a reply to Prime Minister Narendra Modi'’s rally in the western UP town on June 26.
Saharanpur, which has more than 30 per cent Dalit voters, was the venue of the first of a series of rallies Mr. Modi addressed across the country to commemorate two years of his government.
ADVERTISEMENT
The move was seen as an attempt to woo away the BSP’s Dalit vote base — the party won three of the five Assembly constituencies from Saharanpur in 2012.
On Friday, BSP General Secretary Naseemuddin Siddiqui held a meeting of all block and subdivision level workers of the party from Saharanpur and its vicinity.
“A very clear message was given to all of us that Behenji's rally on September 11 in Saharanpur has to be bigger than the Modi rally and that it would be a reply to the so-called magic of Mr. Modi, on the basis of which the BJP wants to win U.P.,” said Kamal Gautam, district president of the BSP for Muzaffarnagar.
ADVERTISEMENT
“Mr. Siddiqui told workers that Behenji’s rally has to have thrice the number of people who came to attend Mr. Modi’s rally in June. Apparently, even this rally would be held at the same venue,” added Mr. Gautam.
He said that Mr. Siddiqui had given a target of 25,000 people from each Assembly constituency in Saharanpur.
Similarly, workers from every Assembly constituency in Muzaffarnagar and Shamli districts have been asked to bring 10,000-15,000 people for the party’s proposed rally in Saharanpur.