The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will reach out to traders across Uttar Pradesh between December 15 and 31, pitching the party’s business promotion programmes days after losing elections in five states.

The party conferences in markets and shopping malls in 75 districts will address traders’ complaints about GST, e-commerce and foreign direct investment (FDI) in retail, said UP BJP traders cell convenor Vineet Agarwal Sharda.

“Previous regimes treated traders as vote bank, but the BJP government has taken decisions to facilitate trade and provide cheaper capital under the flagship MUDRA scheme,” he said, referring to the central government’s credit scheme for small businesses.

Traders in UP recently asked the government to make an e-commerce policy that would protect traditional retailers from the “onslaught” of global giants.