Amit Shah to take charge of UP BJP from June 12

National general secretary of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Amit Shah, will begin a new political inning on June 12 when he takes charge as party’s in-charge of Uttar Pradesh. The UP unit of the saffron party is slated to hold a state-level executive committee meeting on that day. It is believed that Shah will preside over the meeting.

Shah is a trusted Modi aide. He was named accused in two fake encounter cases. Earlier this year, he was appointed as BJP’s national general secretary and handed over charge of UP for 2014 parliamentary election. Uttar Pradesh is a crucial state, as far as general elections are concerned.

“Yes, I will go to UP on June 12,” said Shah, while confirming the development. He, however, refused to talk about his preference for UP’s BJP organisation, but he is all set to chalk out his own strategy to win maximum parliamentary seats in the Hindi belt.

Top leaders and senior cadres of UP’s BJP organisation are expected to attend the June 12 meeting. Shah will interact with them to learn about party structure and local political atmosphere in that state. It is also believed that Shah, along with his loyalists, will shift base from Gujarat to UP after Diwali this year, or by the beginning of 2014.

Sources in political fraternity believe that Modi has high expectations of Shah, after he ironed out several political issues in Gujarat. The former junior home minister was instrumental in handing over the reins of co-operative, dairy and cricket organisations to BJP from Gujarat Congress.