Orchha/ Bhopal, August 31, 2026

The Madhya Pradesh BJP has decided to widen its engagement with youth, women and Other Backward Classes while strengthening the organisation down to the booth level. The direction emerged from the party’s two-day State Working Committee meeting held in Orchha on August 30 and 31.

According to insiders the Uttar Pradesh Assembly election also figured in the discussions. Its inclusion gave the meeting a wider political context, as Uttar Pradesh goes to the polls in 2027, a year before Madhya Pradesh faces its next Assembly election.

State BJP president Hemant Khandelwal placed the broad outcomes of the meeting before the media on Monday. He said the party would further strengthen its social outreach, organisational activities and membership campaign.

The meeting was the first State Working Committee session held under Khandelwal’s leadership. It brought together the party’s national, state and district-level organisation in the Ram Raja temple town after a gap of 14 years.

Chief Minister Dr Mohan Yadav, Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Union Communications Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia were among the prominent leaders who attended the deliberations. BJP national joint general secretary (organisation) Shiv Prakash, regional general secretary (organisation) Ajay Jamwal and Madhya Pradesh in-charge Mahendra Singh also participated. Their presence underlined the organisational importance attached to the meeting. Deputy Chief Ministers Jagdish Devda and Rajendra Shukla were present along with senior state leaders. These included Assembly Speaker Narendra Singh Tomar, former state BJP president VD Sharma, minister Kailash Vijayvargiya and former minister Narottam Mishra.

More than 300 delegates attended the meeting. They included Union ministers from Madhya Pradesh, state ministers, MPs, MLAs, State Working Committee members, district presidents, divisional in-charges and office-bearers of the party’s different wings. The meeting had been convened to discuss organisational expansion, booth strengthening and upcoming programmes.

The strongest message from Orchha was the party’s emphasis on broadening its social base. The leadership discussed ways to connect more closely with young people, women and backward communities.

The youth outreach will particularly focus on Gen Z and first-time voters. The party wants to understand their concerns and develop new ways of communicating with a generation that receives much of its information through digital platforms.

This makes the initiative more than a conventional membership exercise. It will require the organisation to respond to questions linked to education, employment, opportunities and participation in public life.

Women form another important part of the outreach. Their growing role in Madhya Pradesh elections has made them a major political constituency. The party plans to connect its organisational programmes with welfare measures directed at women and their economic empowerment. The focus on OBC communities is equally significant. They have a strong presence across Madhya Pradesh and remain central to the electoral calculations of all major parties.

The proposed membership drive will be used to bring these groups into more active organisational roles. District and booth units are expected to enroll new members while reconnecting with workers who have become inactive. Booth strengthening, cadre training and organisational expansion were discussed as part of the same plan. The objective is to keep the party machinery active between elections instead of depending only on campaign-time mobilisation.

The deliberations also covered Samrasta Ka Sankalp, Viksit Bharat 2047 and the Seva Sankalp campaign. The party reviewed how the welfare programmes of the Centre and the Madhya Pradesh government could reach intended beneficiaries more effectively.

The State Working Committee also adopted a political resolution and discussed programmes for the coming months. The exercise is expected to provide the first working roadmap for Khandelwal’s tenure as state president.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Mann Ki Baat was heard collectively before the formal proceedings began. An exhibition on the achievements and welfare schemes of the Central and state governments was also inaugurated.

The discussion on Uttar Pradesh added another layer to the meeting. Madhya Pradesh shares a long border and close social links with the neighbouring state, particularly across Bundelkhand. Orchha itself lies close to the Uttar Pradesh border. The location, therefore, gave the discussion a natural regional connection.

The exact role of Madhya Pradesh leaders and workers in the Uttar Pradesh campaign will depend on decisions taken by the BJP’s national leadership. However, the issue figuring in the Orchha agenda indicates that the state unit may be called upon to contribute organisational experience and campaign support.

The Orchha meeting was, therefore, not limited to preparations for the 2028 Madhya Pradesh election. It linked social outreach, membership expansion and booth management with the BJP’s wider political plans.