BJP is stepping up its public outreach programmes at multiple levels to get a headstart for the Lok Sabha elections. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is reaching out to 50-lakh new voters virtually on Thursday and will also launch the party’s Lok Sabha campaign in Uttar Pradesh with a public rally in Bulandshahr.

Also, the party is getting ready to release its first list of candidates soon, it is learnt. Sources said the top leadership is expected to meet later this month to finalise the party candidates for the difficult seats in order to give its candidates ample time to work on the ground. Around 150-160 candidates could be finalised soon, they said.

BJP leaders also said although big ticket announcements are not expected, the interim budget is also expected to “create a positive atmosphere and optimism” as “India’s glory as Vishwaguru would be one of the key themes in the BJP campaign” for the Lok Sabha elections.

Party sources added they expect the Lok Sabha elections to be announced by the fourth week of February. The budget session, beginning on January 31, is scheduled to be concluded on February 9. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is visiting the UAE on February 13-14 during which he is expected to attend a diaspora meet – Ahlaan Modi 2024 – and inaugurate the BAPS Hindu Mandir in Abu Dhabi. After his return, the BJP is likely to have its National Council meeting to finalise the campaigning schedule.

In the Bulandshahr rally, the Prime Minister is expected to launch big infrastructure projects for Meerut, Bulandshahar and nearby areas. Among the projects to be inaugurated is a medical college in the name of former chief minister Kalyan Singh. Singh was BJP’s face in the peak of Ram Janmabhoomi movement as he was the Uttar Pradesh CM when Babri Masjid was razed and he had quit the post taking moral responsibility for the demolition.

The Bulandshahr event comes at a time when the BJP launched a massive outreach programme for rural villages – Gaon Chalo Abhiyan — to take stock of the implementation of the Central welfare schemes and talk about the development programmes as well as the January 22 consecration of Ram Temple in Ayodhya.

On Thursday, Modi is scheduled to virtually address 50-lakh first-time voters during a NaMo Navamatdata Sammelan organised by the BJYM in 5,000 locations across the country. According to BJYM president Tejasvi Surya, the nationwide initiative is aimed at engaging and registering new voters. “The BJYM is organising 5,000 sammelans, each engaging a minimum of 1,000 new voters across the country. Special efforts will be made to engage and register navamatdata as Viksit Bharat Ambassadors,” he said on Wednesday.

The main target of the outreach programmes would be to increase the party’s vote share from 37.36 per cent to over 50 per cent in this Lok Sabha election. “With the programmes like Jan Dhan Yojana, toilet scheme, Ujjwala Yojana, PM Awas Yojana and Jal Jeevan Mission being huge successes, the ‘labharthis’ (beneficiaries) remain a major support base for the party. But programmes like Gaon Chalo Abhiyan would help the party to consolidate the rural votes too,” said a party leader.