The Bharatiya Janata Party has decided to infuse all its political might in Uttar Pradesh in the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections with union ministers and present and former chief ministers likely to address several meetings. The main focus in these meetings will be on an interaction with the BJP cadres ahead of the crucial battle of the ballot.

The BJP had won 73 seats in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls when it managed to blank out the opposition parties. But, with the Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party entering into a pre-poll alliance and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra making a formal entry into politics, a three-cornered contest is firmly in the making for the Lok Sabha elections 2019. The saffron party’s move to make its cadres battle ready has come in the wake of the recent political developments in Uttar Pradesh.

These meetings, under the tag of sector-wise conventions, started on Sunday in Unnao, about 70 kilometres from Lucknow. The convention was addressed by the BJP’s UP in-charge and union minister JP Nadda. Nadda exhorted the party workers to highlight the achievements of the Narendra Modi government in the state.

Nadda downplayed the recent unity efforts of the opposition parties. He said it showed that the opposition parties neither had any policy nor leader.

Informed sources in the BJP said the sector conventions, which commenced on January 21, will continue till February 10. For the sector-wise conventions, the 80 Lok Sabha constituencies in the state have been compartmentalized in 19 clusters with a sector meeting in each cluster comprising about three to six constituencies. Sunday’s cluster meeting addressed by Nadda in Unnao comprised Lucknow, Unnao, Mohanlalganj (reserved), and Rae Bareli constituencies.

Apart from Nadda, the other cluster meetings will be addressed by union minister Nitin Gadkari, Uttarakhand chief minister Trivendra Singh Rawat, Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar, and deputy chief minister of Bihar Sushil Modi. Former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and former Chhatisgarh CM Raman Singh are also likely to address the sector-wise meetings.

UP’s deputy chief ministers, Keshav Prasad Maurya and Dinesh Sharma, have also been included in the panel of leaders to address the sector meetings.

In addition to the sector-wise conventions and cluster meetings, a convention of party’s booth workers belonging to Kanpur and Bundelkhand will be held on January 30. It will be addressed by BJP president Amit Shah. A two-day national convention of BJP’s Kisan Morcha will be held in Gorakhpur on February 23 and 24. The farmers’ meet is likely to be addressed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP president Amit Shah.