Party is holding its national executive meet for the first time in Allahabad which is in the OBC-dominated Purvanchal region
In 2013, Narendra Modi, then the Gujarat chief minister, wanted to take his mother to Allahabad for a holy dip in the Ganga at the Maha Kumbh Mela. However, he had to drop his plans after the story about his visit got leaked.
Modi was then tipped to be the BJP's Prime Ministerial candidate. Three years later, the Prime Minister is all set for another trip to Allahabad, this time when his party gets ready for the 2017 Uttar Pradesh polls.
It was Modi's idea to hold the party national executive meet in Allahabad, the political nerve center of the state, according to sources. In his scheme of things, Allahabad, one of the 13 smart cities identified in UP, has held a significant place. At one point it was even considered that Modi may fight the UP election from Allahabad, they said.
This is the first time that the party's national executive is being held in the city, which falls in the politically critical Purvanchal region, dominated by the backward Patel and Maurya castes. Surrounded by Pratapgarh, Varanasi, Phulpur and Mirzapur, Allahabad is seen as the epicenter of Purvanchal, a crucial region in the party's strategy of targeting the non-Yadav OBC and upper caste votes. BJP chief Keshav Prasad Maurya, an MP from Phulpur, is from Kaushambi adjoining Allahabad. The BSP too is trying to reach out to the non-Yadav OBCs and Brahmins besides the dalits and mahadalits in the region.
"Allahabad has a history of being a prestigious academic centre not just for UP but the entire country,"said BJP general secretary Arun Singh.
Unlike the state capital Lucknow, the city of nawabs, and the Prime Minister's constituency Varanasi, the spiritual center, Allahabad is seen as the intellectual hub of the state. Sources said that the BJP conclave being held in the city at a time when the party was preparing for the state assembly elections, would send the message that it was promising a different kind of UP, rid of "goonda raj".
Besides, Allahabad or Prayag, where there is a triveni sangam (confluence of three rivers-- Ganga, Yamuna and mythical Saraswati) also has a religious significance being the only place in the state where a Kumbh is held.
The BJP's electoral battle could be launched with Modi's public rally, a ritual at the end of most party meets. The Prime Minister had held a rally on completion of one year in power in Mathura and addressed one in Saharanpur in Western UP on Thursday on completion of two years of his government.
"Allahabad is a politically important place and influences Purvanchal's politics. In 2014, the BJP regained some ground and focusing on the region will help in consolidating the support base," said BJP leader Siddharth Nath Singh, the grandson of Lal Bahadur Shastri, former Prime Minister and Congress leader who belonged to the region.
The city, with which seven of the country's 15 Prime Ministers have links, is also one of the state's largest centres for education with several writers, poets, IAS officers, advocates and other intellectuals associated with it.
Incidentally, the Congress is planning to launch a year-long nationwide campaign invoking the Nehru-Gandhi family's association with Allahabad. The Congress is referring to the place as the "janma bhoomi"of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.
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