Top BJP leaders arriving in Lucknow to discuss UP poll

Lucknow, Mar 6 (UNI) In pursuit of electoral success in the coming Uttar Pradesh assembly poll after its recent victories in Uttarakhand and Punjab, BJP has intensified its political activities in UP with a host of national leaders visiting the state capital tomorrow to discuss poll modalities.

National leaders M Venkaiah Naidu, Arun Jaitley, Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, Anant Kumar and others would be here to meet the state leaders to discuss distribution of tickets, poll campaign strategy, seat adjustment with NDA parties and other poll related issues.

The BJP leadership is likely to address the issue of resentment of party's chief ministerial candidate Kalyan Singh on certain matters, highly-placed BJP sources told UNI here.

''Efforts would be made to placate the party national vice president ahead of the crucial assembly poll starting April 7,'' the sources informed.

According to sources, rather unusual gathering of top leaders has been arranged as BJP is buoyed over its prospects which had been absymally low for the last three years or so, and no stone would be left unturned to translate into the poll success.

''The party is poised well to regain power in UP,'' state BJP president Keshri Nath Tripathi declared.

The UP BJP core committee, constituted to decide panel of candidates, would meet here on March 9 to send its recommendations to the Central Parliamentary Board to finalise the first list of candidates by March 11, sources said. ''...Before that the issue would come up for discussion during the meeting with the national leaders tomorrow,'' they informed.

Meanwhile, senior state leaders met here today under the chairmanship of state president Keshri Nath Tripathi for preliminary deliberations on various issues, including the names of the candidates.

Senior leaders Kalyan Singh, Lalji Tandon, Om Prakash Singh, Vinay Katiyar and Rajya Sabha member Kalraj Mishra also attended the meeting.

BJP legislature party leader Lalji Tandon said today's meeting was general in nature and mainly discussed the challenges, which were ahead of the party.

Meanwhile, some of the national leaders, arriving here are likely to meet top leaders of Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS), which is currently holding its Pratinidhi Sabha meeting in Lucknow.

It is also likely the RSS would be apprised of the party' plan, objective and strategy in the coming poll, although the BJP state leaderhip denies having such thing on agenda.

BJP would release its first list of candidates in New Delhi on March 11 after the Central Parliamentary Board meets on March 10 and 11 there.

The saffron party had already announced to go alone in the coming assembly poll, although minor electoral adjustments with the NDA parties, small ones in UP, would take place.

UNI