Bharatiya Janata Party President Amit Shah on Wednesday identified the ruling Samajwadi Party as their main opponent in Uttar Pradesh that is going for Assembly elections in 2017, reported The Times of India. "The SP has a strong base and strong cadre," Shah said, adding that he believes that the saffron party will win the polls.
He added that his party has not discussed names for the chief ministerial candidate in the state. However, he said the saffron camp will not refrain from declaring a name once a consensus is reached. The 51-year-old politician indicated an alliance with Ajit Singh's Rashtriya Lok Dal for the polls. "Unlike in Assam, we are not a new party in UP. We have 73 seats and have already started working for 2017 by reconstituting the organisational units right down to the block level," he said.
His announcement came a day before Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to kickstart a nation-wide campaign in Saharanpur in Uttar Pradesh, celebrating two years of the National Democratic Alliance being in power. Modi will also address rallies Odisha, Rajasthan, Karnataka and Meghalaya, The Indian Express reported.
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