The BJP president’s two-day visit to western Uttar Pradesh begins in Meerut, the city from which Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched his election campaigns for the 2014, 2019 and 2024 Lok Sabha elections
Sujeet Thakur and Priya Tiwari
BJP president Nitin Nabin’s two-day visit to western Uttar Pradesh, beginning Monday, September 21, carries a significant political message. His programme begins in Meerut — the same city from where Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched his election campaigns for the 2014, 2019 and 2024 Lok Sabha elections. Modi himself has recalled that all three of his national election campaigns began from Meerut.
This time, however, the responsibility of beginning the BJP’s preparations in Uttar Pradesh has been entrusted to the party president. Nabin is visiting Meerut on September 21 and Saharanpur on September 22 as the BJP steps up its organisational preparations ahead of the 2027 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections. The visit includes organisational meetings and a review of the party’s grassroots and electoral preparedness.
Politically, this is a significant departure. Until now, Modi himself has chosen Meerut as the starting point for the BJP’s major election campaigns in Uttar Pradesh. This time, Nabin has been given the responsibility.
Why Meerut matters
Meerut has acquired a particular significance in the BJP’s election strategy in Uttar Pradesh.
Modi began his campaigns for the 2014, 2019 and 2024 Lok Sabha elections from Meerut. The city also featured prominently in the BJP’s campaigns for the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections. In February 2017, Modi addressed his first major rally of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly campaign in Meerut.
The pattern has therefore given Meerut a symbolic importance in the BJP’s electoral politics in the state.
The choice of Meerut is also linked to the political and historical character of western Uttar Pradesh. The region has a strong association with the 1857 uprising and is known for its agricultural economy. It is also associated with the political legacy of former Prime Minister and farmers’ leader Chaudhary Charan Singh.
The BJP has sought to associate itself with Charan Singh’s legacy, with Modi and other senior party leaders frequently referring to him with respect.
Western Uttar Pradesh is also politically significant because of its social and demographic composition. The region has a substantial Muslim population and includes Deoband, an important centre of Islamic scholarship. From the BJP’s perspective, the region has also been viewed as an important area for its Hindutva-oriented politics.
A change in who leads the campaign
It is against this background that Nabin’s Meerut visit assumes importance.
The BJP president’s visit comes at a time when the party is beginning to intensify its organisational preparations for the 2027 Assembly elections. Reports on the programme say the focus will be on strengthening the organisation at the grassroots level, reviewing electoral preparedness and engaging with different sections of society.
Nabin’s Meerut visit is therefore not being seen merely as another organisational tour.
The political significance lies in the fact that the party has entrusted him with a responsibility that Modi himself had undertaken in previous election cycles. Beginning the exercise from Meerut, a city closely associated with Modi’s election campaigns, signals the importance being attached to Nabin’s role in the preparations for the Uttar Pradesh polls.
It also indicates the confidence placed in the BJP president and gives him space to shape the organisation and election strategy according to his own approach.
What Nabin will do in western UP
During his two-day visit, Nabin is scheduled to hold a series of meetings with BJP office-bearers and elected representatives.
In Meerut, the focus will be on reviewing the organisation’s preparedness and election-related activities. He is also scheduled to interact with party workers and leaders, including MPs and MLAs. The programme includes meetings aimed at assessing grassroots preparations and strengthening coordination between the organisation and elected representatives.
The BJP’s organisational exercise includes reviewing preparations at the booth, Shakti Kendra, mandal and district levels.
Nabin will stay overnight in Meerut before travelling to Saharanpur on September 22 for further organisational discussions and election-related programmes.
The objective is to strengthen the organisation before the Assembly elections, improve booth-level management and ensure greater coordination between party leaders and workers.
The wider political significance
Western Uttar Pradesh has traditionally been an important electoral region for parties contesting the state. Its agricultural base, social composition and political history make it particularly significant in any discussion of Uttar Pradesh’s electoral strategy.
For the BJP, Meerut has acquired an additional layer of importance because of its association with Modi’s election campaigns.
That is why Nabin’s decision to begin his two-day western Uttar Pradesh visit from Meerut carries a message beyond the immediate organisational meetings.
The BJP president is now stepping into a role that has previously been visibly associated with Modi in the state’s election campaigns. His visit comes months before the Assembly elections and at a time when the party is beginning to put its organisational machinery into election mode.
For the BJP, therefore, Meerut is not merely the first stop on Nabin’s two-day itinerary. It is the political backdrop against which the party is beginning its preparations for the next Uttar Pradesh Assembly election.
