Watch: "Hindu Exodus" Drives Amit Shah's 1st UP Campaign, Covid Rules MIA
NDTV
Visuals showed few - including the senior BJP leader - wearing masks, maintaining social distancing or following the Election Commission's 5-person limit on door-to-door campaigning.
The alleged "exodus" of Hindus from Uttar Pradesh's Kairana before 2017 - a claim widely debunked as a communal bogey - took centre-stage as Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday launched a door-to-door election campaign in the state's west.
Visuals showed few - including the senior BJP leader - wearing masks, maintaining social distancing or following the Election Commission's 5-person limit on door-to-door campaigning given the surging coronavirus third wave.
With slogans of 'Jai Shri Ram' and 'Bharat Mata ki Jai' raised by his entourage, Mr Shah was seen handing out pamphlets listing the achievements of the BJP government and greeting supporters and children.
It was the first political programme by Mr Shah in Uttar Pradesh after the assembly poll dates were announced and the choice of Kairana was seen as significant given how BJP leaders had alleged that a large number of Hindus were forced to migrate from the area due to threats during the Samajwadi Party rule, making it a big poll issue in 2017.
