Saharanpur: BJP national president Nitin Nabin's visit to Saharanpur on Monday focused on the party's organisational preparations for the 2027 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections, with meetings with both the old guard and the current leadership in western Uttar Pradesh.
Nabin held two separate meetings at a resort on Ambala Road, spending around two-and-a-half hours taking feedback from former and current elected representatives and party office-bearers. The meetings were held behind closed doors, with the media not allowed inside.
The first meeting, which lasted nearly two hours, was with former representatives and former office-bearers from western UP. Nabin sought their political experience and feedback on the organisation and discussed preparations for the 2027 polls.
The second meeting, lasting around 30 minutes, was with current elected representatives and office-bearers. The discussions included the party's election preparations and the political position of potential ticket aspirants.
The separate meetings with the old and new leadership assume significance as the BJP begins to prepare its organisation for the Assembly elections. Western UP has traditionally been a politically sensitive region, with caste and community equations playing a significant role in electoral contests.
After the meetings, Nabin visited Ojhpura, where he offered prayers at a Ravidas temple and had lunch at the home of a Dalit party worker.
The outreach to the Dalit community is also significant in Saharanpur, where Scheduled Castes account for around 22% of the population, according to the 2011 Census. Muslims constitute around 43% of the district's population.
Saharanpur has seven Assembly constituencies: Behat, Nakur, Saharanpur Nagar, Saharanpur Dehat, Deoband, Rampur Maniharan and Gangoh. Rampur Maniharan is reserved for Scheduled Castes.
The BJP had won five of the seven seats in Saharanpur in the 2022 Assembly elections, while the Samajwadi Party won two. The BSP and Congress failed to win a seat in the district.
Speaking to reporters after the meetings, Nabin said the BJP wanted to take all sections of society along with it. He said he had interacted with party workers in Saharanpur and across western Uttar Pradesh.
Nabin also highlighted the development work of the Uttar Pradesh government, saying the state had moved from being associated with mafias to projects involving semiconductors, artificial intelligence, expressways and BrahMos missile production.
He said the enthusiasm among BJP workers indicated that the party would return to power with a majority in 2027.
The Saharanpur visit came as the BJP's organisational machinery steps up its preparations for the 2027 polls. The party is seeking feedback from its workers and leaders in different regions while assessing local political equations and the strength of its organisation ahead of candidate selection and the campaign.
