Keeping its focus on next year’s Lok Sabha elections, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has attempted to pacify its core social base in Uttar Pradesh, with at least 80% of the new State leadership team hailing from Brahmin, Rajput and non-Yadav Other Backward Caste (OBC) communities.
The team, announced late on Saturday night, comprises 18 State vice presidents, 16 secretaries, seven general secretaries and six regional presidents. Prominent faces including Noida MLA Pankaj Singh and Rajya Sabha MP Surendra Nagar have been made vice presidents, while Abhijat Mishra, national general secretary of the BJP youth wing has been made a secretary in the new State unit.
Eye on polls
The BJP has appointed three outgoing regional chiefs — Dharmendra Singh (Gorakhpur), Manvendra Singh (Kanpur-Bundelkhand) and Mohit Beniwal (west) — as State vice presidents in the new team. At least four-fifths of the team are either Brahmins, Rajputs or non-Yadav OBCs, with a focus on smaller population groups within OBCs such as the Patel and Shakya sub-groups.
Out of six regional presidents, three belong to non-Yadav OBC communities while three are from upper caste groups. Prakash Pal has been appointed the regional president of the Kanpur region, while Dilip Patel, another OBC, was appointed president of the politically significant Kashi region. A Brahmin, Kamlesh Mishra, was appointed president of the Awadh region, while Satendra Sisodia, a Rajput, was made the regional chief of the western region.
Top U.P. BJP leaders, including the Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and State president Bhupendra Singh Chaudhary, congratulated the new team. “Heartiest congratulations to the newly appointed office bearers of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). I have full faith that your energy, dedication, devotion and experience will help in strengthening the organisation,” Mr. Adityanath wrote in Hindi on Twitter.
