Will Amit Shah boost the BJP's prospects in Uttar Pradesh?

Rajnath Singh has made a big and decisive political move by making former Gujarat Home Minister Amit Shah the General Secretary of the BJP in Uttar Pradesh, a crucial state for the party given it has 80 Lok Sabha seats and also the party president’s home state.

“Modi did not recommend anyone’s name for this position. However I have taken the decisions considering a lot of factors. Amit Shah is known for his leadership skills and that is a key reason for choosing him over many others,” Rajnath Singh said in an exclusive interview with CNN-IBN.

In the 1990s, BJP had 57 out of 80 seats. However, their tally is presently a paltry 10 seats and the BJP will be looking to improve their tally in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections.

While Varun Gandhi has been made the head for the 2014 elections where he will be scouting for potential allies in Bengal, Chandan Mitra will be handling the party’s work in Navin Patnaik’s territory in Odisha.

Muralidhar Rao has been made the head of Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh will handled by Prabhat Jha. Ramapati Ram Tripathi will manage party affairs in Jharkhand where Babulal Marandi is a potential ally.

Maharashtra will be handled by Rajiv Pratap Rudy.

Congress has been quick to give a rebuttal saying that there strategy to place Modi’s key aide is not going to work in Uttar Pradesh.

Congress spokesperson Meem Afzal said, “The BJP is going back to an agenda that has failed in the past. Uttar Pradesh will asnswer them back in their own coin.”