New Delhi, June 1: With an eye on expanding its footprint in the southern states, the BJP is set to hold its two-day national executive meeting starting July 2 in Hyderabad, Telangana. The saffron party has, in recent years, made rapid gains in the key state in the region and is seeking to emerge as a credible opponent to the K. Chandrasekhar Rao-led party, which is eyeing a third term at the helm, ahead of the assembly polls scheduled towards the end of 2023.
This will be the first physical meeting of the BJP's key decision-making body outside the national capital after a gap of five years. And it will be the third meeting in the southern states after coming to power in 2014. The party held two national executive meetings in Bengaluru (Karnataka) in 2015 and Kozhikode (Kerala) in 2016.
All top leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, home minister Amit Shah, BJP president J.P. Nadda, Union ministers and chief ministers of the party-ruled states are expected to attend the meeting.
The BJP's national executive meeting is being held in Hyderabad at a time when the party is trying to make further inroads in the state, whereas the ruling TRS is also working on cobbling together a non-BJP, non-Congress alliance to challenge the saffron party at the national level.
With an aim to reach out to the people in Telangana, the BJP's state unit president, Bandi Sanjay Kumar, has already carried out a statewide march, 'Praja Sangrama Yatra' in two phases. It was attended by the party's senior leaders, including Mr Nadda and Mr Shah.
The meeting is coming at a time when the party is preparing for assembly polls in states like Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Rajashthan, and Madhya Pradesh. The last executive meeting was held in 2021, ahead of the assembly polls in UP, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Goa and Manipur.
The BJP's national executive comprises leaders from across the country. At the meeting of its key body, the party passes resolutions and decides its future course of action.
