Senior BJP leaders meet to evolve UP Poll Strategy

New Delhi, mar 16 (UNI) Senior BJP leaders, including former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Leader of the Opposition L K Advani, today chalked out the strategy for UP assembly elections.

The meeting, which begun at the residence of senior BJP Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu at 1245 hours, was also being attended by party President Rajnath Singh and BJP Chief Ministerial candidate Kalyan Singh, UP BJP chief Kesari Nath Tripathi, Leader of the Opposition in UP assembly Lalji Tandon, besides other party leaders.

After successes in Punjab and Uttarakhand, the assembly elections in UP for BJP were significant as the party president Rajnath Singh and Mr Vajpayee belonged to the state.

The BJP will like to go all out in the present situation to grab power in the State.

The party has so far released the first list of its 317 candidates out of 403 seats, fielding 100 new faces and renominating most sitting members.

The party however got a jolt yesterday when its Gorakhpur MP Yogi Aditya Nath resigned from the party's national executive yesterday apparently in protest against denial of ticket to his nominees.

According to sources, having firmed up an understanding with Apna Dal and Janata Dal (United), BJP will contest 353 constituencies, out of a total of 403 seats -- leaving the rest to its allies.

UNI