Govt, BJP stress seamless coordination for UP polls

Rajiv.Srivastava1Lucknow: Taking lessons from BJP’s performance in UP in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the state council of ministers, at a meeting held after the cabinet meeting on Monday, focused on ensuring seamless coordination between govt and the party organisation in preparation for the 2027 Assembly elections.This was the first meeting of the council of Mmnisters dedicated to preparations for the 2027 polls. UP BJP chief Pankaj Chaudhary attended the meeting for the first time, along with organisational general secretary Dharampal Saini.The hour-long meeting was chaired by CM Yogi Adityanath. Chaudhary joined later, when the CM and Saini were already present.Sources said the ministers were asked to plan all future govt programmes with individual Assembly constituencies in mind.

Yogi emphasised that the priority should now be to complete all ongoing development projects well before the 2027 elections.Yogi also directed ministers in-charge of districts to remain actively engaged in their respective areas. He said all ministers must participate in the statewide plantation drive scheduled for July 12. Chaudhary said the campaign would also involve BJP workers down to the booth level.Each booth has been tasked with planting at least 20 saplings, in what party leaders see as an effort to showcase close coordination between govt and the organisation.

With nearly 1.6 lakh booths across the state, various govt departments have also been assigned plantation targets, a minister who attended the meeting told TOI.Ahead of the plantation drive, the CM will launch a cashless healthcare facility for primary and secondary school teachers in Varanasi on July 8. All ministers, MPs and MLAs have been directed to attend the launch programmes in their respective Assembly constituencies.Party functionaries asked ministers to shift into election mode and ensure that every govt programme, including those held at the Assembly constituency level, is planned with the 2027 polls in mind.“From now on, every programme should be conceived and executed keeping the Assembly elections as the focus,” both Yogi and Pankaj Chaudhary told the ministers.