LUCKNOW: Keeping in sight the target of over 300 seats, the number the BJP won in the 2017 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections, BJP national general secretary Vinod Tawde entered the poll arena, pledging not to repeat the mistake of coining slogans such as 'Abki Baar 400 Paar' for the upcoming electoral battle in the state.
After leading the BJP to an impressive win in Bihar in 2025, Tawde is playing a crucial role in Uttar Pradesh, where relations between the party's organisation and the government led by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath have come under scrutiny from time to time. Tawde, the state BJP in-charge, is playing the role of a link between the two.
Tawde has been active in UP for the past few months, overseeing matters ranging from the expansion of the Yogi cabinet to putting together a team for state president Pankaj Chaudhary. Tawde's influence has also been evident in various state-level appointments. He has actively worked to improve coordination and synergy between the government and the party organisation.
Known for his inclusive approach, he is well-positioned to manage the Uttar Pradesh BJP.
To strengthen Vinod Tawde's team, the BJP central leadership appointed the party's national secretary Jagdish Ishwarbhai Patel, Rajya Sabha member Pradeep Verma from Jharkhand and former MLA Anant Ojha as co-in-charges. Tawde is leading the team, with Patel looking after the Kashi and Kanpur-Bundelkhand regions, Verma assigned the Awadh and Gorakhpur regions, and Ojha entrusted with western UP and the Braj region. Medha Kulkarni, also a co-in-charge in Tawde's UP team, is stationed at the party headquarters in Lucknow to supervise women and youth outreach programmes.
At the outset, Tawde took a pragmatic approach making it clear to the party workers that they had to win 312 seats in the 2027 election, just as they did in 2017. He assured them that he would continue meeting party workers, engage in dialogue with them and find solutions to every problem.
“The four-member central team of the ruling party is criss-crossing the state to step up preparations; Tawde and his three deputies have been allocated two regions each for mobilising the organisational cadre and shoring up party positioning against an aggressive opposition,” said JP Shukla , a political commentator.
As per the party insiders in Lucknow, all five functionaries would be based in their respective regions for proper operations. Besides Tawde, Verma and Kulkarni will be staying in Lucknow. Likewise, Patel will be staying in Varanasi while Ojha will be staying in a house in Meerut. “The idea is to mobilize the organizational machinery to its fullest,” said a senior UP BJP leader.
Political experts feel that the regional deployment is intended to bring the central leadership closer to district-level units and Assembly constituencies, allowing the party to obtain a more granular assessment of its electoral prospects.
Tawde intends to stay in frequent touch with district units and use the party's organisational network, including Vistaraks and Assembly in-charges, to gather feedback on sitting MLAs and prospective candidates. He also plans to keep a close watch on the opposition at the grassroots level.
The four BJP members are also learnt to be in touch with the influential sections in different Assembly constituencies and gathering inputs about the functioning of Modi and Yogi governments.
On the issue of ticket distribution and the much-discussed anti-incumbency against several sitting BJP MLAs, the party's UP in-charge said there was nothing wrong with wanting to contest the elections again, but the state had only 403 Assembly seats.
“Some would get tickets; those who fail to get, would not work against the party,” Tawde said recently. Meeting the cross section of party workers during his frequent visits to UP, Tawde said: "When you speak to a worker, he says that everything is fine, but... this 'but' is what is ruining everything. If half the glass is empty, we should not say that; instead, we must send the message that we will now fill the glass."
UP BJP spokesperson Ankush Tripathi said, "BJP is always in poll mode. Be it the central leadership or the grassroots worker at the booth level, they keep working at the ground level."
Moreover, BJP sources confirmed that the entire exercise was being assisted by a robust backup from RSS and its affiliates. Feedback is being taken about any anti-incumbency and the conduct of the sitting MLAs in their respective constituencies.
“Now after Diwali, the ruling party is set to start shifting gears with the launch of campaign 'blitzkrieg' led by PM Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP national president Nitin Nabin leading the party from the front,” said Tripathi.
A senior BJP leader said, “BJP’s fresh strategy signals a move beyond routine organisational reviews to a more intensive, ground-level exercise as it eyes straight consecutive Assembly win in UP.”