Amit Shah to be back in poll-going MP over weekend; focus on Malwa-Nimar region

Bhopal/Indore: Union Home Minister Amit Shah is slated to visit Madhya Pradesh over the weekend to meet BJP leaders and interact with booth-level workers ahead of the year-end polls, party functionaries said on Friday, as the saffron outfit draws up a strategy to retain power in the key Hindi heartland state.

This will be the second visit of the senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader, a key poll strategist for the BJP, to the state in three days. On Wednesday, Shah chaired a state BJP core committee meeting which lasted for nearly four hours and went past midnight.

“Shahji is expected to arrive in Bhopal on Saturday evening and chair a meeting of the party's core committee and interact with senior leaders. On Sunday, he is likely to address a press conference in the state capital before leaving for Indore," BJP leader and former Madhya Pradesh Home Minister Umashanker Gupta told PTI.

In Indore, the main political centre of the crucial Malwa-Nimar region which has 66 of the total 230 assembly seats, Shah will interact with booth-level BJP workers for the first time before the upcoming state polls.

“During his visit to Indore, Shah will address a meeting of at least 25,000 workers who have been given different responsibilities in the region,” MP BJP media department co-in charge Dipak Jain 'Tinnu' said.

At the Indore gathering, BJP workers will also take a pledge to mobilise voters at the booth-level with full vigour to ensure the party retains power with a two-thirds majority in the assembly elections, Gupta said.

In the 2018 assembly polls, out of the 66 seats in the Malwa-Nimar region, the Congress had bagged 35, a tally which helped it form government in Madhya Pradesh under the leadership of party veteran Kamal Nath. The BJP, which came back to power in March 2020 after the fall of the Congress government, had won 28 seats, while three went to Independents.

Districts falling under Indore and Ujjain revenue divisions are part of the region, which has a substantial population of tribals and farmers.

In 2013, the BJP had won a whopping 56 seats in the region, while the Congress had to contend with just 9, while one constituency went to an Independent.

Asked about the BJP's poor showing in the region in the last polls, media department co-in charge Jain said the Congress had swayed voters with false promises.

This time around, they (voters) know the true face of our rivals, Jain added.

After his arrival in Indore on Sunday, Shah will visit the birthplace of Lord Parshuram at Janapav Kuti, about 50 km from the city, he said.

On Thursday, BJP general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya said during Shah's visit, BJP workers will take a pledge to mobilise voters at the booth-level to ensure the party retains power with a two-thirds majority.

The opposition Congress took potshots at the state BJP over Shah's Indore visit.

“The BJP has roped in Shah knowing their state leadership has become a spent force ahead of polls. When the BJP central leadership itself is not relying on the state leadership, how will voters trust them in elections?” MP Congress media cell chairman KK Mishra said.

Earlier this month also Shah had visited Bhopal to review the party’s preparedness for the assembly elections.

Political analysts said Shah has been visiting MP to get first hand-feel of the ground situation and to prepare a blueprint to retain power in the state, a stronghold of the saffron outfit.

They said after a long time a big leader of the BJP like Shah is coming to the Malwa-Nimar region, which holds the key to power in Madhya Pradesh.

In November last year, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's Bharat Jodo Yatra had criss-crossed the region and drawn large crowds. His yatra rejuvenated Congress workers and the party will now try to consolidate its position and put up a good electoral show, said the analysts.