UP Elections 2027: From Lucknow to Varanasi, BJP steps up preparations - Will Ram Mandir donation row hurt?

The Uttar Pradesh unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is set to intensify its preparations for the 2027 Assembly elections with a series of high-level organisational meetings scheduled in the first week of this month.

Uttar Pradesh BJP in-charge Vinod Tawde in in Lucknow, the state capital on October 1 and 2 along with co-in-charges. A series of meetings at different levels of the organisation will be held to discuss the party’s upcoming electoral strategy during the visit.

The meetings are expected to focus on strengthening the organisation, reviewing preparations and chalking out a roadmap for the upcoming state elections.

Following the Lucknow meetings, the BJP has proposed a two-day ‘Chintan Baithak’ in Mathura on October 3 and 4. The meeting will be attended by BJP national president Nitin Nabin, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and senior office-bearers of the state unit.

During the meeting in Mathura, detailed discussions will be held on preparations for the 2027 Assembly elections, organisational strategies and the party’s electoral planning in the state.

Several senior leaders, including BJP National President Nitin Nabin and General Secretary (Organisation) BL Santhosh, will attend the meeting, apart from representatives from the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh. State BJP President Pankaj Chaudhary, State General Secretary (Organisation) Dharampal Singh and both Deputy Chief Ministers Brajesh Pathak and Keshav Prasad Maurya are also likely to attend, sources said.

Earlier, BJP's UP chief, Pankaj Chaudhary exuded confidence in the party's preparations for the 2027 Assembly elections, saying the BJP is strengthening its organisation at the grassroots level and will secure a bigger victory than it did in 2022.

‘Even bigger victory in 2027’

Speaking to ANI, Chaudhary said the party was currently verifying its booth-level organisation and was prepared for the upcoming electoral battle.

"We are conducting a verification of our booth-level organisation. We are prepared right down to the grassroots level. I can confidently say that we will secure an even bigger victory in 2027 than we did in 2022," he said

The BJP’s election-related activities will continue on October 7, when a programme featuring Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and Nitin Nabin is proposed in Varanasi, the parliamentary constituency of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

With these programmes, the BJP is set to focus on strengthening its election strategy across key organisational centres, beginning from Lucknow, moving to Mathura and then Varanasi in the first week of October.

A day earlier, Nabin chaired a meeting of the party's state in-charges and co-in-charges at the BJP headquarters in New Delhi, with discussions expected to focus on organisational expansion, electoral preparedness and outreach initiatives.

Key meetings scheduled

Around 65 state in-charges and co-in-charges are participating in the meeting. BJP National General Secretary (Organisation) BL Santosh, Uttar Pradesh in-charge Vinod Tawde, Sunil Bansal, Smriti Irani, Biplab Deb, Harish Dwivedi, Sanjay Bhatia, Satish Poonia and Gajendra Patel, among others, are present at the meeting.

The BJP has been in power in UP for last two terms. Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath will seek a third term in next year's elections. Anti incumbency apart, the biggest issue that the analysts feel in the upcoming elections would be the alleged Ayodhya temple donation embezzlement and land purchase controversies.

The BJP leaders have largely sought to de-escalate the issues, dismissing them as routine administrative irregularities.

"BJP will try to convince people that the party had nothing to do with the irregularilites which were administrative in nature," said a political analyst.

Ram Mandir donation row impact?

Sanjay Kumar, a professor at the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS is of the opinion that there is no doubt that the Ram Mandir donation row has dented the BJP’s image. He thinks the opposition will certainly try to make the most this as a key poll issue.

But, according to Kumar, it is premature to access how much will the issue alter voting behaviour in the elections scheduled next year. "Electoral choices are never shaped by a single issue. They are heavily dependent on whether voters see a viable alternative in the opposition,” he told Fronline in recent interview.

In the 2022 assembly elections, the BJP registered a historic victory, marking the first time since 1985 that an incumbent government completed a full five-year term and returned to power with a full majority. As a result, Yogi Adityanath took the oath of office as Chief Minister for a consecutive second term.

The BJP won 255 seats in the 403-member UP assembly. The Samajwadi Party won 111 seats, and the Congress won two seats.

The SP and Congress contested the 2024 Lok Sabha polls together in Uttar Pradesh and won 43 seats between them, with the SP winning 37 and the Congress six. The NDA won 36 seats, including 33 by the BJP.

Law and order trump card?

The trump card for the BJP, according to Kumar, would be the law and order situation and the ‘ease of living’ in Uttar Pradesh through visible improvements in roads, infrastructure, and healthcare. The core message would be: ‘We have brought crime under control, and day-to-day life is safer.’

"They will project this as a catalyst for both a better quality of life for the common citizen and a driver for economic investment.” Kumar said in the Frontline interview.

(With agency inputs)