Ahead of Assembly elections in three states, Amit Shah to meet leader of core groups

As BJP gears up for upcoming Assembly elections in Haryana, Jharkhand and Maharashtra, its president Amit Shah has called a meeting of core groups from these states to hold discussions over the preparations on Sunday.

Sources told Zee Media that Shah will first hold a meeting with the core group of Haryana. After that, he will meet Jharkhand's core group and then Shah is scheduled to meet the core group members from Maharashtra.

The assembly elections these three states are scheduled to take place this year and it is to be noted that BJP is in power in all these states. The recent performance in Lok Sabha poll must have given the confidence to BJP that it could repeat its performances in these states too and remain in power. But Shah is not known to take chances and the meeting with core groups sends a clear message that the BJP president is not in a mood to take things lightly.

In Jharkhand, the BJP is facing a stiff challenge from Congress-RJD-JMM alliance and though the party won 12 out of 14 Lok Sabha seats in the state, political experts maintain that the party would find it tough to repeat its Lok Sabha performance. Sources claim that the anti-incumbency against Jharkhand Chief Minister Raghubar Das is also high and the alliance of Congress-RJD-JMM may emerge as a formidable challenge for BJP.

In Haryana, the BJP is on a strong wicket and the confidence of saffron party is on a high as it won all Lok Sabha seats in the recently concluded election. In Haryana, BJP's main rivals are Congress, INLD and Haryana Janhit Congress. 

In Maharashtra, the BJP is set to contest the assembly election in alliance with Shiv Sena. It is to be noted that BJP and Shiv Sena had contested the Lok Sabha election in alliance and managed to win 41 of the 48 seats at stake in the state. It is certain that the two parties would contest the assembly election in alliance too, though they are yet to reach seat-sharing agreement. In Maharashtra, BJP-Shiv Sena alliance will be up against Congress-NCP alliance and it remains to be seen whether Congress-NCP would be able to turn the tide in their favour during assembly poll or not.