Ahead of 2027 Uttar Pradesh polls, BJP steps up outreach to neglected leaders, influential professionals

Stepping up its preparations for the 2027 Uttar Pradesh assembly elections, the BJP has decided to launch an extensive outreach exercise to bring influential people from different walks of life into its fold and reconnect with sulking party leaders who have allegedly been neglected over the years.

District presidents have been asked to prepare these lists by collecting inputs from each mandal under their jurisdiction, identifying potential entrants, neglected former party functionaries and influential personalities who could be approached as part of the outreach exercise.

All such lists will be forwarded to the state party headquarters where senior leaders will examine them and take a further call.

A decision in this regard was taken at the BJP's organisational meeting chaired by state party president Pankaj Chaudhary here on Saturday. National general secretary and UP in-charge Vinod Tawde and state general secretary (organisation) Dharampal Singh were also present in the meeting.

The district presidents were asked to prepare separate lists of people interested in joining the party, categorising them into those willing to join without seeking an assembly ticket and those aspiring to contest the 2027 polls.

The meeting also decided to identify former district presidents, MLAs, MPs and other old party functionaries who have remained inactive or feel neglected. Party leaders will personally contact them, address their grievances and bring them back into active organisational work.

The emphasis, according to party functionaries, is on activating those who have remained neutral and making already active workers more active. The leadership has also stressed that party workers should not remain without organisational responsibilities or assignments.

"There was a time when those not holding formal positions in the organisation were also left without any work, a practice the party now wants to change," said a state general secretary who was privy to the meeting.

The BJP will also prepare district-wise lists of influential personalities from different professions, including lawyers, doctors, traders, industrialists and intellectuals. Influential opposition leaders who are not particularly active in their respective parties will also be identified and approached.

The outreach will not be limited to inviting these people to join the BJP. Party functionaries will maintain repeated contact with them, listen to their grievances against the government and the party, and make efforts to address their concerns to secure their support.

Saturday's organisational meeting came a day after Union home minister Amit Shah, addressing the BJP state executive committee meeting in Lucknow on Friday, laid down the party's political and organisational agenda for the 2027 assembly elections.

Party workers attending the deliberations said the BJP was now fully in election mode, with the leadership focusing on strengthening its organisational base, expanding its social outreach and ensuring that no influential leader or potential supporter remained outside its engagement network.

"The outreach exercise comes against the backdrop of feedback gathered by the BJP, which indicated that a sizeable number of party workers and others had grievances against the party, the government or both, largely over perceived neglect and other issues," another BJP leader said.

"The party now wants to address these grievances and correct this perception ahead of the 2027 assembly elections," he added.