BJP working president JP Nadda said workers created an atmosphere which was in the party's favour. (File)

BJP working president JP Nadda on Friday thanked party workers for their hard work, saying it had created an atmosphere in its favour in the recent Lok Sabha elections which was converted into votes.

He was addressing party workers at the BJP headquarters after arriving in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, on Friday evening. Mr Nadda is on a two-day visit to Uttar Pradesh during which a cabinet rejig and assembly bypolls are apparently high on his agenda.

"Through hard work, workers created an atmosphere which was in the party's favour and converted it into votes leading to a historic victory," said Mr Nadda, who was the party's Uttar Pradesh unit in-charge.

He said that an opportunistic and casteist alliance had come up in the state ahead of the elections but the party led by its chief Amit Shah worked to connect with people belonging to all sections of society. "We succeeded in putting the last nail in the coffin of those indulging in casteist and dynastic politics," he said.

Mr Nadda said the leadership of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and the popularity of Prime Minister Narendra Modi forced people to extend their support to the party.

He promised to work towards making the party stronger and urged BJP workers to actively take part in the membership drive beginning Saturday. The effort should be to increase the membership from 11 crores to 20 crores, he said.

Welcoming the new working president, Yogi Adityanath said it is a matter of pride that a common worker could rise to the position of BJP working president. "The BJP is not a party of a family, a caste or a sect but it is actually the party of Bharat ki janta," he said.

The chief minister recalled Mr Nadda's contribution as health minister towards improving the health services in Uttar Pradesh.

Mr Nadda was appointed BJP's working president on June 17 after party chief Amit Shah became Union home minister.

Party spokesperson Rakesh Tripathi had said on Thursday that Mr Nadda would meet party leaders and discuss organisational matters including a membership drive.

The party leaders are expected to discuss the upcoming bye-elections to 12 assembly seats. Eleven of them fell vacant after the legislators found berths in the Lok Sabha following the recent parliamentary elections. Other issues on Mr Nadda's agenda include expansion of Yogi Adityanath cabinet to fill vacancies created after three ministers were elected to the Lok Sabha and the parting of ways with alliance partner Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party, whose president Om Prakash Rajbhar was also a minister.

With UP BJP chief Mahendra Nath Pandey being inducted into the Union cabinet, Mr Nadda is also likely to discuss finding a replacement. On the second day of his UP visit, he will join PM Narendra Modi in Varanasi Saturday when he kicks off a BJP membership drive.