Padyatras, public meetings and outreach programmes will be held in Uttar Pradesh and other states to counter Opposition’s ‘vote chori’ (theft of votes) allegations and its criticism of the Election Commission
Two-and-a-half years after the Opposition made the protection of the Constitution a major political plank in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP has launched a nationwide campaign to counter the narrative around democracy and constitutional institutions. In particular, the ruling party is focusing on poll-bound Uttar Pradesh where it appeared to have lost the narrative battle to the Opposition in the last Parliamentary elections.
Under its “Loktantra Bachao, Arajakta Hatao’ (Save Democracy, Remove Anarchy) campaign, the BJP is organising padyatras (foot marches), public meetings and outreach programmes in different states to counter Opposition’s “vote chori” (theft of votes) allegations and its criticism of the Election Commission.
In Uttar Pradesh, the exercise will involve six major padyatras across all the party’s organisational regions, as announced by UP BJP general secretary (organisation) Dharampal at the party’s state working committee meeting on Friday, between November 3 and 5, with a target of at least 25,000 participants at each event.
The scale of the programme in UP is particularly significant given the political experience of the BJP in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections when the Samajwadi Party and the Congress made the Constitution a major theme of their campaign.
{{/usCountry}}The scale of the programme in UP is particularly significant given the political experience of the BJP in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections when the Samajwadi Party and the Congress made the Constitution a major theme of their campaign.
{{/usCountry}}Congress leader Rahul Gandhi was frequently seen carrying and displaying a copy of the Constitution of India at election rallies while the Opposition repeatedly alleged that the BJP would change the Constitution if it returned to power with 400-plus seats. The BJP’s ‘400 paar’ slogan and controversial remarks by some party leaders about changing the Constitution provided the Opposition an opportunity to build this narrative.
Consequently, the BJP’s tally of Lok Sabha seats in the state fell to 33 in 2024 from 62 in 2019. Afterwards, its senior leaders were seen publicly admitting that the party failed to counter the Opposition’s ’false’ narrative.
This time, however, the BJP appears determined to turn the tables on the Opposition by taking the battle over democracy and constitutional institutions at its doorstep.
The BJP, observers said, is seeking to use the very political vocabulary the Opposition deployed against it in 2024, turning the ‘Samvidhan Bachao’ narrative into a counter offensive around ‘Loktantra Bachao’.
“We are determined to prevent the Opposition from monopolising the political discourse around democracy and constitutional institutions,” a senior BJP leader said.
The present campaign, according to him, is intended to take the party’s counter narrative directly to the people and expose the Congress-SP’s attempts to create confusion over the electoral process “as they did in 2024 by telling people that BJP will do away with reservation by changing the Constitution.”
The nationwide campaign will see senior BJP leaders, Union ministers and chief ministers of party-ruled states participate in padyatras. In UP, Union agriculture minister Shivraj Singh Chohan will participate in the Awadh region’s padyatra in Lucknow on November 3 (Tuesday), while another Union minister and former BJP national president JP Nadda will attend the Braj region’ programme in Bareilly the same day.
On November 4, Nitin Nabin and state BJP president Pankaj Chaudhary will participate in the Gorakhpur region’s padyatra in Gorakhpur. Deputy chief minister Keshav Prasad Maurya will attend the Kashi region’s programme in Prayagraj, while another deputy CM Brajesh Pathak will attend the Kanpur-Bundelkhand region’s padyatra in Kanpur.
Chief minister Yogi Adityajath will lead the western region’s padyatra in Ghaziabad on November 5.
BJP sources said the party would subsequently take similar programmes to district headquarters and grassroot levels.
“The wider objective is to keep the organisational machinery engaged while countering the Opposition campaign through direct public interaction,” they said.