Lucknow: Having learnt its lessons from its defeat in Gorakhpur and Phulpur byelections in March, the BJP in Uttar Pradesh is not taking any chances in the upcoming byelections in Kairana Lok Sabha seat and the Noorpur assembly seat.

The BJP has adopted the man-to-man marking strategy in Kairana and is eyeing the five lakh odd vote bank of OBC groups like Saini, Kashyap, Pal and Prajapati .

The BJP has asked its leaders belonging to these caste groups to move from house- to-house and ensure that the voters reach the polling station on May 28 when polling is held. Almost all party office-bearers have been deployed in Kairana and are supervising the campaign to make sure that voters are being contacted and convinced to cast their votes on polling day.

 “There is nothing special about Kairana because we treat every election with the same amount of seriousness and dedication. We are working hard to ensure our victory here,” said BJP general secretary Vijay Bahadur Pathak.

A low voting percentage in Gorakhpur and Phulpur is cited as one of the main reasons for the BJP’s defeat.

Moreover, the party is focusing on rural and semi-urban areas where the cane farmers reside.

There is anger among cane growers over delayed payments and the unwillingness of sugar mill owners to run the mills due to lack of economic viability in the business.

The BJP is worried because Mriganka Singh had faced defeat when she contested the Kairana Assembly seat last year that was vacated by her father Hukum Singh. Mriganka is again the BJP candidate after Hukum Singh’s demise earlier this year.

The party is trying to whip up a sympathy wave in favour of its candidate but there is in-house trouble since some of her own family members are opposing Ms Mriganka’s candidature. Another factor that is troubling the BJP is that it is, again, facing a joint Opposition candidate in Kairana.