PM Narendra Modi, Amit Shah visit: BJP looks to blend Hindutva, vikas

LUCKNOW: The BJP is all set to bring a blend of Hindutva and development to the centre-stage of politically crucial Uttar Pradesh this week with party chief Amit Shah scheduled to visit Allahabad to take stock of Kumbh preparations and Prime Minister Narendra Modi reaching Lucknow on a two-day visit for a ground-breaking ceremony of development projects worth around Rs 60,000 crore.
BJP chief Amit Shah is scheduled to visit Allahabad on Friday, which also happens to be Guru-Poornima, an auspicious date as per Hindu tradition, to meet seers. The BJP chief's visit to Sangam City comes barely a day ahead of Modi's two-day visit to Lucknow-on July 28 and 29-to lay foundation stone of development projects for which the UP government had signed MoUs with industrialists during the investors' summit in February earlier this year.

A host of projects related to development of infrastructure under Centre's ambitious Atal Mission for Rejuvenation of Urban Transformation (AMRUT), Smart City projects, Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana and Power have been lined up by the ruling BJP for being flagged off by the PM in the presence of a galaxy of business honchos, including Reliance group chairman Mukesh Ambani and Adani group chief Gautam Adani.

The visits by the two high-profile BJP leaders to UP comes even as the saffron party gears up to take on the united opposition, essentially comprising UP's two regional giants-the SP and BSP. The RSS, the ideological fountainhead of the BJP too has stepped up its machinery while throwing its weight behind UP CM Yogi Adityanath as one of the key leaders under whose leadership the BJP would take on the opposition.

Party sources said that Shah is expected to meet seers from Akhara Parishad and take their views on the construction of Ram Temple in Ayodhya. The development comes almost a month after CM Yogi Adityanath met seers in Ayodhya and asked them to keep patience and confidence in the judicial system vis-a-vis the contentious religious issue. Vishwa Hindu Parishad international president Vishnu Sadashiv Kokje too is expected to reach Lucknow and hold meetings around Shah's visit to Allahabad.