Delhi Election: Yogi Adityanath to hold rally at Shaheen Bagh, Jamia Nagar

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has reportedly been deputed by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to go on an extensive tour of Delhi ahead of voting on February 8.

He is expected to address at least 12 rallies at different locations across the national capital, including protest hotspots Shaheen Bagh and Jamia Nagar, News18 reported.

The UP CM will be in Delhi to campaign for the saffron party from February 1 to 4 for the hotly contested Delhi Assembly election. Though this move is being viewed as a desperate attempt to polarise the electorate, party sources have junked all claims.

They have stated that Yogi Adityanath has done a lot of work for the people of Delhi and adjacent areas, which is why he has been asked to hold rallies there. Moreover, they said, a lot of people staying in the minority-dominated colonies are natives of Uttar Pradesh.

Shaheen Bagh has become synonymous with agitations against the contentious new Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). Women cutting across different strata have been gathering at South Delhi’s Shaheen Bagh over the past month to stage sit-in protests, claiming the new law dampens the secular fabric of the Indian Constitution.

Meanwhile, Jamia Nagar is a Muslim-majority area located close to Jamia Milia Islamia University, where first reports of CAA protests turning violent emanated from.

Yogi Adityanath holding a rally at Jamia Nagar gains added importance since the law passed by the BJP government at the Centre is believed to be a nefarious design to disenfranchise Indian Muslims. The ruling party has been vehemently opposing all voices of dissent against the CAA and the National Register of Citizens (NRC).