NEW DELHI: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has formed a dedicated team to spearhead its proposed Gen Z outreach programme, days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi asked ministers to deepen engagement with young people through direct interactions at universities and government schools.
The team includes BJP national president Nitin Nabin, national general secretaries Smriti Irani and Vinod Tawde, Gujarat minister Harsh Sanghavi, among other leaders, according to a top party source, quoted by news agency ANI.
News agency ANI reported, "BJP national president Nitin Nabin, national general secretaries Smriti Irani and Vinod Tawde, Gujarat minister Harsh Sanghavi, Chhattisgarh minister OP Choudhary, along with several other leaders, have been included in the team constituted for the outreach initiative."
The party is expected to begin the programme soon, with the initiative likely to focus on the aspirations, concerns and expectations of Gen Z and provide young people an opportunity to interact with BJP leaders.
The BJP's Gen Z outreach comes as the opposition steps up its engagement with younger voters. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi is scheduled to hold the 'Chhatron Ki Goonj' programme in Pune on Saturday, following similar events in Kota, Dehradun and Prayagraj.
The programme, to be held at AISSMS College Ground, is expected to focus on concerns including paper leaks, examination irregularities and rising education fees. It will also focus on young women and issues affecting them. Organisers are expecting between 8,000 and 10,000 attendees, with the event scheduled from 4.30 pm to 9.30 pm.
The BJP has attacked Rahul Gandhi's Pune programme, with party spokesperson Navnath Ban dubbing it "Paise Ki Goonj" and alleging that the Congress paid social media influencers to mobilise crowds. Ban alleged that influencers were offered up to Rs 35,000 to promote the programme and claimed the Congress could have spent nearly Rs 10 crore on mobilising attendance. The Congress has rejected the allegations.
The BJP's Gen Z initiative is expected to involve interactions, discussions and other engagement activities aimed at understanding the concerns of young voters. Further details on its schedule, format and locations are likely to be announced soon.
Earlier on Saturday, BJP national president Nitin Nabin chaired the first introductory meeting of the party's newly constituted national team. The meeting formally marked the beginning of the new team of BJP office-bearers. All six stanzas of the national song 'Vande Mataram' were recited ahead of the meeting.
In the newly announced national team, Vinod Tawde and Sunil Bansal will continue as national general secretaries. Biplab Kumar Deb, Smriti Irani, Satish Poonia, Gajendra Patel, Harish Dwivedi and Sanjay Bhatia have joined as newly inducted national general secretaries. Union minister Piyush Goyal has been given additional responsibility in the party organisation and appointed national treasurer, while Rajesh Mangal from Rajasthan has been appointed national joint treasurer.
The Gen Z outreach team will now prepare for the BJP's proposed engagement programme, with the party expected to announce details of the initiative in the coming days.
