Farmers Movement Archive

BJP to woo farmers, rural segments ahead of panchayat polls in UP

The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Uttar Pradesh will hold eight primarily farmer and rural outreach programmes across the state from March 19. The initiative is timed with the completion of four years of chief minister Yogi Adityanath’s government in office. A broad consensus in this regard was reached at the UP BJP working committee meet here on Monday, where the party appeared keen to placate the farmers who are agitated over the Centre’s three new farm laws. While the farmers’ protests are being supported by the Opposition parties, the BJP’s farmer outreach initiatives come just ahead of the panchayat polls in UP. The BJP has decided to field candidates for 826 block pramukh posts and for 3051 district panchayat members’ posts, party leaders said. It has also decided to back candidates for the post of gram pradhan and block development council (BDC) posts in these panchayat polls.“Between March 19 and 25, the party would run a series of campaigns, primarily focused on rural UP. These include a farmer-specific contact campaign, possibly on March 21, where we will hold dialogue with farmers and tell them that the party has always cared for them and that it is always willing to hear them out on their concerns on farm laws and address all the issues,” a BJP leader said. On March 22, the party would hold a dialogue with youths, a party leader said, adding that the BJP would be talking about the various initiatives of the four-year-old Yogi Adityanath government touching all sections of the people though the campaigns would be largely aimed at the rural areas. “We also plan to hold campaigns simultaneously in all 403 assembly constituencies of the state. Nearly 300 assembly segments are fully or partially rural and hence the dialogue is aimed at rebutting the Opposition build-up against us,” a BJP leader said. While inaugurating the state working committee meet, defence minister Rajnath Singh had given a hint of the party plan when he had appealed to the farmers to call off their stir and invited them for a dialogue.

Hindustan Times

15-03-2021

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