Lucknow diary | BJP taps fitness trainers to mobilise youngsters

The UP unit of the ruling BJP has mobilised gym and fitness trainers across the state as part of a broader youth centric campaign during the upcoming service week scheduled to be organised from September 17PM Narendra Modis birthdaytill Gandhi Jayanti on October 2. The campaign, proposed to be carried out by BJPs youth arm, the Bharatiya Janta Yuva Morcha, will be themed around the idea of making youth addiction free. Mobilising gym and fitness trainers gives the campaign a strong youth-centric, aspirational angle. The ruling party is eyeing to tap the fitness trainers ahead of the battle of 2027 as they wield respectable influence. New member from RSS for temple trust Krishna Mohan, 73, an RSS office-bearer and a former Indian Forest Service officer, has been appointed as a new member of the Shri Ram Janma Bhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust. Mohan, who hails from Hardoi district, is RSSs Chhetra Sangh Chalak (region in-charge) for eastern UP. He has replaced Kameshwar Chaupal, who died earlier this year after prolonged illness. Like Chaupal, Mohan also belongs to the Scheduled Caste community. He joined the Maharashtra cadre of the IFS after MSc in geology from Lucknow University. He was, along with his wife, one of the host couples at the first consecration ceremony of the Ram Temple in January 2024. Lucknow Chalo call by Mayawati for party boost Come October 9, the death anniversary of BSP ideologue Kanshi Ram, and party chief Mayawati would organise a mega rally in Lucknow. The move is an attempt to revive the party ahead of the next years Assembly elections. Mayawati will address the mega-rally for which at least two lakh workers from across UP are likely to convene at the Kanshi Ram Memorial, a significant site of Bahujan unity built during the tenure of BSP. In the past few weeks, she has reorganised the party structure and raised local issues, appearing more vocal than in the years before. The party is planning to bring at least one bus for four Assembly seats. Namita bajpai Our correspondent in Uttar Pradesh namita.bajpai@newindianexpress.com