Lucknow: The campaign blitzkrieg for UP elections to be launched by Narendra Modi , Amit Shah and Nitin Nabin will be backed by intense grassroots preparations, with key inputs drawn from party veterans, former organisational leaders and former public representatives, including former MPs and MLAs.
Sources said the model would initially be adopted in districts where BJP performed poorly in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, when its tally in Uttar Pradesh dropped from 62 seats to 33. Constituencies where the party underperformed would be taken up next, while seats that BJP has won consistently over successive elections would receive attention at a later stage.
BJP sources said all district presidents have been tasked with preparing a list of party veterans in their respective districts who may be approached by the top leadership for inputs that could be incorporated into the grassroots campaign. Sources said BJP has decided to scale up its ground-level outreach by leveraging the experience and feedback of old party hands and former state functionaries who have felt neglected following recent organisational reshuffles The strategy was laid out during the recent state working committee meeting, where the role of former party members was highlighted as crucial in building momentum against the Samajwadi Party and Congress . “The party has been benefiting from the experience of its veterans, who are often brought closer to the organisational circuit on key occasions,” UP BJP spokesperson Anand Dubey said, asserting that the upcoming campaign would continue that tradition. Sources said the party also plans to facilitate interactions between veterans and BJP’s top leadership during the election campaign. “In politically vulnerable districts, the experience of former MPs, MLAs, district-level office-bearers and other influential functionaries could help the party identify local grievances, assess the strength of opposition networks and fine-tune its social outreach,” a senior UP BJP member said.
During the meeting, Amit Shah had appealed to party workers to set aside their grievances before plunging into election preparations. The message was widely seen as an acknowledgement of simmering resentment within sections of the organisation and an attempt to prevent internal differences from undermining BJP’s election preparations. Complaints have been raised over the accommodation of outsiders on senior organisational positions, while workers who have spent years building the party feel sidelined.