BJP to tap fitness trainers for campaign to promote 'addiction-free' youth

Lucknow: The UP BJP will mobilize gym and fitness trainers across the state as part of a broader youth centric campaign during the upcoming ‘ Sewa Pakhwada ' (service week) scheduled to be organised from the PM Narendra Modi's 75th birthday on Sept 17 till Gandhi Jayanti on Oct 2.

The campaign, proposed to be carried out by BJP's youth arm, the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha , will be themed around the idea of making youth "addiction free".

"The idea is to reach out to youth, especially the first-time voters with a social appeal," said BJYM state general secretary Varun Goyal.

Experts said that mobilizing gym/fitness trainers gives the campaign a strong youth-centric, aspirational angle. Fitness communities already symbolize discipline, energy, and anti-addiction lifestyles, so they're a natural fit for a campaign promoting " addiction-free youth ."

A senior BJP leader said that the party has been positioning itself as a protector of youth health while blending social responsibility with political messaging. Analysts said that the BJP plans to tap the fitness trainers which wield influence among aspirational middle-class and working-class youth.

Goyal said that the morcha will also organise marathons run in six prominent cities of UP – Lucknow, Kanpur, Ghaziabad, Agra, Gorakhpur and Varanasi. For this, the party will be registering thousands of youth willing to take part in the campaign. He said that each marathon run is expected to see a presence of 5,000 to 10,000 people. The move is seen as BJP's strategic step to register a database of young supporters who could subsequently be reached out in future campaigns.

The party will also be organising blood donation camps which would essentially be attended by party workers in all 98 organisational districts. Goyal said that the party will urge thousands of workers to take a resolution of donating blood at the camps proposed to be organised in all districts.