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Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh : Alongside strengthening its organizational foundation, the BJP is rapidly gearing up for the electoral battle. Following State In-charge Vinod Tawde’s visit to Lucknow on September 5 and 6, National Secretary Nitin Navin (visiting Meerut) and National General Secretary (Organization) BL Santhosh (visiting Lucknow) are set to tour UP on September 12 and 13 to assess the situation. The program, originally proposed for three days (September 11–13), has been condensed to two days.
The national leadership will seek feedback regarding the seats lost in the previous Assembly (2022) and Lok Sabha (2024) elections. Additionally, a meeting between Santhosh and the Chief Minister as well as both Deputy Chief Ministers is likely. Nitin Navin and BL Santhosh had previously visited Lucknow for two days on July 4. During that visit, they had directed that regional organizational units and Morchas (wings) be constituted by July 15, though significant delays occurred in this process. During their two-day stay in Lucknow, they met with former state presidents and veteran organizational office-bearers, conveying the message that the party would leverage their experience for electoral purposes.
Both leaders met Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and subsequently visited the residences of Deputy Chief Ministers Keshav Prasad Maurya and Brajesh Pathak to deliver a specific message. Navin also held coordination meetings with NDA allies (Apna Dal-S, RLD, Nishad Party, and SBSP). Following this, Vinod Tawde arrived in Lucknow on September 5 for a two-day visit, holding meetings with state and regional office-bearers as well as the Chief Minister and both Deputy Chief Ministers. Now, the upcoming visits—Nitin Navin to Western UP and BL Santhosh to the Awadh and Kanpur regions, scheduled five days after Tawde’s visit—are considered strategically crucial.
These visits are taking place at a time when the BJP has constituted regional teams after a gap of six years. Several figures from Uttar Pradesh have secured prominent positions within the national team. Teams for the six party wings will also be formed soon. After assuming the role of president, Nitin Navin will undertake his first tour of Western Uttar Pradesh—a region where politics has historically revolved more around polarization than social equations. Meerut is considered the political capital of Western Uttar Pradesh; there, Navin is expected to hold meetings with the organization and elected representatives at the regional office, followed by a coordination dialogue with the Sangh at Madhav Kunj.
In the Western region, which comprises 71 Assembly seats, the BJP faces several challenges, including shifting dynamics regarding the Gurjar vote bank. Meanwhile, BL Santhosh will hold introductory meetings with regional office-bearers from the Awadh region (82 Assembly seats) and the Kanpur region (52 Assembly seats). Discussions will also cover the social dynamics and electoral strategies concerning Assembly seats claimed by NDA allies. Reviews will be conducted regarding the ‘Samrasta Sankalp Abhiyan’ (Social Harmony Pledge Campaign)—running for six months from July 29 to February 20, 2027, coinciding with Sant Ravidas Jayanti—as well as the ‘Tiranga Abhiyan’ (Tricolour Campaign) scheduled for August and the preparations and achievements related to the upcoming ‘Seva Sankalp Maah’.
Report – Abhijit Tushar Bhatt (Political Editor)
