BJP to bank on Hindutva, national pride, development for 2022 UP polls

With the elections still more than six months away, the party will wait for the second Covid wave to subside and then gradually, but firmly, shift the focus back to the emotive issues such as the Ram Temple. 

The Ram Temple in Ayodhya will be projected as one of the biggest achievements of the BJP and Yogi Adityanath's ‘massive' development plan for the holy city, serving as the proverbial icing on the cake. 

According to party sources, BJP workers will continue to harp on the slogan "Ayodhya toh sirf jhanki hai, Kashi, Mathura baaki hai" (Ayodhya is a mere teaser, Kashi and Mathura are still left). 

"In Kashi, the local court has already granted permission for excavation. Even if that is tied up in legal maze, the ambitious Kashi Vishwanath Corridor project will be ready by November 2021, and this will be a major attraction for Hindus across the globe. The magnificence of the temple complex will wipe away all the unhappy memories of the pandemic," said a senior BJP functionary. 

At present, the BJP workers have been asked to focus on the 'Sewa Hi Sangathan' campaign of the party that has been designed to serve the victims of the pandemic and blunt the opposition attack on the Yogi government. 

BJP national General Secretary (organisation) B.L. Santosh and party Vice President Radha Mohan Singh, who were in Lucknow earlier this week, have stressed on cadre mobilisation and redressal of their complaints during meetings. 

The party also plans a major programme to assuage the feelings of the cadre level workers who have been feeling alienated of late. 

The BJP, according to sources, has no plans to give up the Hindutva card. 

The party functionary said, "Yogi Adityanath has vibrantly put up the Hindutva factor during his regime. He has promoted development keeping in mind the religious factors, and has undoubtedly emerged as the torch-bearer of Hindutva. The party will capitalise on it." 

The BJP in Uttar Pradesh will further look to blunt the opposition by evoking ‘national pride', which has been the hallmark of the Narendra Modi-led government at the Centre. 

"There is development, Hindutva and national pride -- a perfect mixture for resounding success in the next Assembly elections," the BJP functionary said.