Amit Shah in Lucknow to fine tune Lok Sabha poll preparedness

Lucknow : BJP President Amit Shah on Wednesday arrived on a day-long visit to Lucknow, as he seeks to assuage cadre discontent and improve coordination between the party and the state government ahead of the General Election in 2019.

Shah was received at the airport by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and many of his ministerial colleagues. He is scheduled to take part in a coordination meeting between the organisation, the state government and the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS) at a private resort.

Workers of the cadre based party have been complaining that Ministers and officials do not listen to their problems and this may cost them dearly in the Lok Sabha elections.

There is also speculation that Shah and the CM may discuss rejigging the state cabinet, and bringing in new faces.

Party sources said that the BJP leadership is also worried about the strident position taken by Hindutva leaders like Pravin Togadia and ally Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray, who are taunting the BJP and the central government for the delay in the construction of the Ram temple in Ayodhya.

Togadia, who announced on Tuesday that he was forming a political party for Hindus, charged the BJP with betraying the sentiments of millions of Hindus on the Ram temple issue. Shiv Sena, an ally of the BJP, has also upped the ante and its chief is visiting Ayodhya on Thursday.

The BJP has lost successive bypolls for the Lok Sabha and the state Assembly to candidates jointly put up by arch rivals Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party.

Wednesday's deliberations will also seek to gauge the challenge posed by the two regional parties.