Agencies | New Delhi:
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday interacted with the newly appointed national office-bearers of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), urging the new team to strengthen its grassroots connect, encourage fresh ideas and develop innovative ways to engage with the country’s youth.
The interaction at the BJP headquarters marked Prime Minister Modi’s first meeting with the national office-bearers appointed under BJP president Nitin Nabin following the party’s major organisational reshuffle. According to sources, the meeting lasted around four-and-a-half hours, during which Modi interacted with each member of the new team and heard their views about their professional backgrounds, political journeys and organisational experience.
The lengthy interaction was seen as an opportunity for the new leadership team to receive direct guidance from the Prime Minister as the party prepares for upcoming Assembly elections and seeks to further strengthen its organisational network.
According to sources, Modi emphasised that the BJP’s organisational strength ultimately depends on its relationship with people at the grassroots.
Drawing on his own experience as the party’s general secretary (organisation), the Prime Minister shared practical suggestions on how the new office-bearers could work together, improve coordination and take greater collective responsibility for organisational tasks.
He stressed that different levels of the party should function with greater synergy and that meetings should not merely remain formal exercises but should generate new ideas and perspectives.
In a post on X after the interaction, Modi said such meetings provide an opportunity to discuss “new ideas and perspectives” aimed at strengthening the organisation and deepening its connection with the people.
Sources said the Prime Minister particularly encouraged the new team to explore fresh methods of communicating with young people, understanding their aspirations and involving them more actively in the party’s outreach and service activities.
The message, according to party sources, was clear: organisational expansion should go hand in hand with public engagement, responsiveness and a stronger presence at the grassroots.
Earlier in the day, BJP president Nitin Nabin chaired his first meeting with the newly appointed national office-bearers.
Discussions reportedly focused on preparations for forthcoming Assembly elections, grassroots mobilisation and communicating government initiatives to the public.
The party is also expected to hold further consultations with state presidents, state in-charges and chief ministers of BJP-ruled states as part of its wider organisational strategy.
The new national team represents one of the BJP’s biggest organisational reshuffles in more than a decade. The 65-member team includes 13 national vice presidents and eight national general secretaries.
Among the prominent appointments are former Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje Scindia and former RSS functionary Ram Madhav as national vice presidents, while former Union minister Smriti Irani has been appointed a national general secretary.
B.L. Santhosh has been retained as national general secretary (organisation), while Vinod Tawde and Sunil Bansal will continue as national general secretaries.
Union minister Piyush Goyal has returned as national treasurer, a position he had held before joining the Union Cabinet in 2014.
The new team also includes 12 women and six leaders from minority communities.
The organisational changes extend beyond the party’s central leadership.
The BJP has made changes to its technology, media and youth organisations as part of its broader outreach strategy. Amit Malviya has been replaced as head of the party’s IT department by Deepak Mhaske, while Hemang Joshi has been appointed president of the BJP Yuva Morcha in place of Lok Sabha MP Tejasvi Surya.
The party has also appointed new leaders for several of its frontal organisations.
Roop Kumari Choudhary will head Mahila Morcha, Amarpal Maurya will lead OBC Morcha, Bansilal Gurjar will head Kisan Morcha, Shivesh Kumar Ram will lead SC Morcha, Dr Mannalal Rawat will head ST Morcha and Kunwar Basit Ali will head Minority Morcha.
On the media and digital outreach front, Anil Baluni has been appointed media convener, while Deepak Mhaske will serve as social media convener.
The changes indicate an effort to strengthen the party’s communication machinery while expanding its engagement with different sections of society.
The BJP is also preparing for a nationwide service campaign, the ‘Seva Sankalp Abhiyan’, scheduled to run from September 17 to October 17.
BJP national general secretary Vinod Tawde said the month-long campaign would mark Prime Minister Modi’s 25 years in public life.
The campaign is expected to focus on service-oriented activities, connecting beneficiaries with government welfare schemes and encouraging young people to participate in initiatives linked to service and innovation.
The BJP plans to take the campaign down to the booth level, making it one of the party’s major grassroots mobilisation exercises.
As part of the programme, BJP workers will honour Anganwadi workers and organise ‘Matri Samvad’ programmes, with outreach planned across more than 1.4 million Anganwadi centres.
The ‘Seva Mein Mera Yogdan’ initiative will encourage citizens and young people to showcase their contribution to social service, while the ‘Seva Setu Abhiyan’ will organise block-level camps to help eligible beneficiaries access government welfare schemes.
A National Innovation Challenge is also planned to encourage young people to develop practical solutions to local problems through research and innovation.
The organisational meeting also saw the BJP adopt a resolution on Vande Mataram, intensifying its political confrontation with the Congress.
The BJP criticised the Congress Working Committee’s decision to retain its 1937 resolution restricting the singing of Vande Mataram to its first two stanzas at official party programmes.
The BJP said the National Song represents the country’s freedom struggle and national consciousness and announced plans for a nationwide campaign highlighting its history and significance.
The issue is likely to add another layer to the political contest between the BJP and Congress, with both parties seeking to frame the debate around questions of nationalism, history and political identity.
The Prime Minister’s interaction with the new national team comes at a significant point for the BJP, which is simultaneously preparing for electoral contests, strengthening its grassroots network and expanding its outreach among younger voters.
The emphasis on direct public contact, fresh ideas and collective responsibility suggests that the party’s new organisational strategy will focus not only on electoral mobilisation but also on maintaining a continuous connection with voters between elections.
For Nitin Nabin and his newly appointed team, the immediate challenge will be to translate that direction into action across states and at the booth level.
With upcoming Assembly elections on the political horizon, the BJP is placing organisational preparedness, youth engagement, welfare outreach and communication at the centre of its next phase of political strategy.
