Amit Shah begins door-to-door campaign in Western UP, meets exodus-affected families in Kairana

Kairana (UP), Jan 22: Amit Shah on Saturday started door-to-door campaign ahead of Uttar Pradesh polls. He put the spotlight on the issue of alleged "exodus" of Hindus from Kairana before 2017 by visited the affected families who have since returned here in Kairana in Western UP.

The union home minister was accompanied by party workers and leaders wearing saffron caps and stoles with the BJP election symbol as he treaded the rain-drenched lane in the winter chill to distribute pamphlets mentioning the achievements of the BJP government, amidst intermittent shouts of "Jai Shri Ram' and 'Bharat Mata ki Jai'.

After the election dates are announced, Shah is on his first political event in Uttar Pradesh and Kairana holds significance as the BJP leaders alleged had alleged that a large number of Hindus were forced to migrate from the area due to threats during the Samajwadi Party rule, making it a big poll issue in 2017.

Even during the recent election rallies, the leaders from the BJP have been again raising the issue while claiming an improved law and order situation in the state under the Yogi Adityanath government. The issue, however, has had communal overtones and was seen as a polarising factor in the last polls. Shah paid a visit to families whose members were allegedly forced to migrate during the Samajwadi Party rule. Security personnel had a difficult time as crowds jostled to see the BJP leader.

During his visit, the residents informed the Union Home Minister said that security is the most important issue for them and some showered flower petals on the BJP leader and chanted 'Modi-Modi'.

In this contituency, the BJP has fielded Mriganka Singh, eldest daughter of late Hukum Singh who had won the seat several times, against the RLD-Samajwadi Party candidate Iqra Hasan.

Kairana is a city and municipal board in Shamli district in western UP.

Shah, who was the chief architect of the BJP's stupendous win in the 2014 and 2019 Lok Sabha elections and 2017 assembly elections in the state, is overseeing the party's campaign for upcoming assembly elections as he is known to have a good understanding of caste dynamics in the state and coordination with workers personally across constituencies.