Lucknow: With the battle for the 2027 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections beginning to take shape, BJP is set to unveil the broad contours of its electoral strategy at a crucial two-day organisational meeting to be held in Mathura on Oct 3 and 4.
Spread across 19 organisational districts, the region has traditionally been a BJP stronghold. However, the party’s performance dipped in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, raising concerns within the organisation. BJP won 53 of the region’s 65 assembly seats in 2022, down from 57 in 2017 when the party stormed to power with a record mandate and Yogi Adityanath became chief minister.
party insiders said the deliberations would focus on assessing the ground-level political situation, identifying challenges posed by the opposition and finalising the framework of campaigns that the party would take up in the run-up to the polls While the official agenda is yet to be released. The symbolism is not lost on the party leadership too. The meeting is expected to bring together the party’s top brass amid growing signs of an aggressive contest with Samajwadi Party and Congress. The meeting will be attended by BJP national president Nitin Nabin , national general secretary and UP in charge Vinod Tawde , chief minister Yogi Adityanath , UP BJP chief Pankaj Chaudhary , besides all state vice-presidents, general secretaries and key organisational leaders from six regions. The choice of Mathura is significant and politically loaded. Considered one of the ideological centres of the Hindutva movement, the city has increasingly occupied a central place in BJP’s political discourse. Party strategists view the Braj region not merely as an electoral battleground but as a crucial pillar of the larger narrative that seeks to consolidate voters across caste lines under an overarching Hindu identity. It will be the first time in decades that the party will fight a UP Assembly election without Ram Mandir construction issue as a plank. Beyond symbolism, the Braj region holds electoral value. The assembly numbers tell a similar story.
Nitin Nabin chose Mathura for his first visit after taking charge as BJP national president earlier this year, while Pankaj Chaudhary offered prayers at Banke Bihari temple soon after assuming office as the state BJP chief.