The BJP is expanding its outreach to Gen Z and Gen Alpha ahead of the crucial Uttar Pradesh elections scheduled for early 2027. As part of this outreach, a joint initiative of the Yogi Adityanath government and the party, the campaign will cover over one lakh educational institutions in the state.
The engagement with students will be through drawing, essay-writing and speech competitions centred on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s 25 years in public life and the idea of a developed India by 2047. The campaign, ‘Mere Sapno Ka Bharat – Chitra Seva’, will run from September 17 to October 7, starting on Modi’s birthday and culminating in a state-level function to mark his completion of 25 years in public office, beginning with his tenure as Gujarat chief minister.
It will cover students from Classes V to XII as well as those in colleges and universities. While younger students will participate in drawing competitions, those in Classes IX to XII will be asked to write essays or make paintings. College students will take part in speech competitions on what a developed India should look like in 2047.
The initiative comes as the BJP has been trying to build a more direct connection with Gen Z, including through smaller interactions in colleges, hostels, coaching centres and other youth spaces. The party recently set up a dedicated team for Gen Z outreach, with BJP president Nitin Nabin stressing the need for a mechanism through which youth issues can reach party leaders.
The timing is significant for Uttar Pradesh, which is scheduled to hold Assembly elections in 2027. Young voters are becoming an increasingly important part of the electorate. In the 2024 Lok Sabha election, India had nearly 98 crore registered electors, including more than 1.84 crore voters aged 18-19. In Uttar Pradesh, after the latest SIR exercise, the number of first-time voters was over 17.63 lakh, accounting for nearly 1.32 per cent of the total electorate. The number rises significantly if those aged up to 22-25 years are included, roughly the age group typically attending university.
Uttar Pradesh alone has over 13.39 crore voters, the largest electorate among the states.
The BJP's latest exercise, which may also be carried out by other state units, is not simply a conventional student programme. It gives the party a way to enter educational institutions and speak to potential and first-time voters before they become active participants in the 2027 election. The exercise will involve active engagement with their parents too. Though sources did not provide an estimate of the number of students the exercise will engage with, they said that since the number of educational institutions covered is over one lakh, the total participation could run into several lakhs.
The format also reflects a shift in the party's youth strategy since the Jantar Mantar protests. Rather than relying only on large rallies, the BJP has been emphasising smaller interactions designed to gather feedback from students and young professionals.
The massive campaign will be overseen by Basic Education Minister Sandeep Singh, Secondary Education Minister Gulab Devi, and Higher Education Ministers Yogendra Upadhyay and Rajni Tiwari. From the party, BJP state secretary Yatendra Sharma will serve as coordinator, while BJP secretary Akanksha Sonkar will be the co-coordinator.
In Uttar Pradesh, the campaign will also have a strong organisational component. At the school level, exhibitions will be organised with parents and local residents, with the best entries moving to district and subsequently to state-level exhibitions. The state-level event is expected to feature CM Adityanath, ministers and elected representatives.
Every participant will receive a certificate, while winners will receive certificates signed by Adityanath. The BJP also plans to document the events through photographs and videos and share inputs on students' aspirations with the PMO.
The campaign's stated objective is to understand how young people imagine their neighbourhoods, villages and the country in 2047. Politically, however, the exercise gives the BJP something more immediate: early engagement with a voter group that will be entering the electorate in significant numbers before the 2027 Uttar Pradesh election.
