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. 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. 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.
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.
The nationwide campaign will see senior BJP leaders, Union ministers and chief ministers of party-ruled states participate in padyatras. 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. 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.
“The wider objective is to keep the organisational machinery engaged while countering the Opposition campaign through direct public interaction,” they said.
