UP BJP chief in Kashi on Jan 8 to mobilise cadres for ’27 poll preps

Varanasi: Union minister and BJP state President Pankaj Chaudhary will arrive on a 2-day visit to the city on January 7 to hold an organisational meeting with office-bearers of the Varanasi Lok Sabha seat and 16 district units of the Kashi region. This will be Chaudhary's maiden visit to the city after assuming charge as UP BJP chief.The meeting is seen as crucial as the BJP steps up preparation ahead of the 2027 UP assembly elections.On Wednesday, BJP Kashi region President Dilip Patel convened a meeting of office-bearers and public representatives on Wednesday evening at the party's Rohaniya office. Patel finalised plans to accord a grand welcome to Chaudhary, who will reach Varanasi from Gorakhpur. The BJP leader is scheduled to be accorded a grand welcome at various places by workers of the Varanasi city and district units. He will stay overnight at Circuit House.On January 8 morning, he will offer prayers at the Kashi Vishwanath and Kaal Bhairav temples. After that, Chaudhary will hold a meeting with office-bearers and public representatives of the Varanasi district and city units falling under the Varanasi Lok Sabha constituency limits. After this, he will hold a meeting with office-bearers of all 16 organisational districts under the Kashi region.Patel said that the meeting would include MPs and candidates who lost the 2024 LS elections, MLAs and candidates who lost the 2022 assembly elections, the mayor, the district panchayat President, district presidents, districts in charge, district pravasi (those deputed to assess the situation in various regions), the regional working committee, and state and national office-bearers residing in the Kashi region. On January 8 evening, he will depart for Delhi.Among others, district President and MLC Hansraj Vishwakarma, Amarnath Yadav, Anil Srivastava, and Shriprakash Shukla attended the meeting.