The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Thursday announced a new organisational team for Uttar Pradesh, carrying out a major restructuring of its state unit ahead of the Assembly elections to be held early next year. The list, released by state president Pankaj Chaudhary, includes appointments to several key positions, with 19 state vice presidents, eight state general secretaries, and 19 state secretaries named.
The reshuffle appears to be the party’s attempt to strike a balance across social groups and regions, while also inducting fresh faces and assigning them significant responsibilities. Among those appointed as state vice presidents are Suresh Rana, Satyapal Saini, Dharmendra Singh, Priyanka Rawat, Archana Mishra, Pooja Pal, Rajesh Yadav and Alok Gupta.
Ram Pratap Singh Chauhan, Geeta Shakya, Abhijaat Mishra, Upendra Rawat and Sanjay Rai have been named as state general secretaries. The list of state secretaries includes Vijay Shivhare, Basant Tyagi, Shivbhushan Singh, Sahjanand Rai, Anil Yadav, Avdhesh Srivastava, Vijay Rajbhar, Rakesh Bind, Rahul Valmiki and Aakanksha Sonkar, among others.
The composition of the team indicates that the BJP has sought to give representation to backward classes, Dalits, women and youth within the organisation. The party has also announced regional presidents for its six zones. Nawab Singh Nagar has been appointed in charge of the western region, Puran Lal Lodhi for the Braj region, Ram Kishore Sahu for the Kanpur region, Avdhesh Dwivedi for the Awadh region, Ashok Chaurasia for the Kashi region, and Vinod Rai for the Gorakhpur region.
To strengthen organisational functioning, Bharat Dixit has been appointed office secretary, while Atul Awasthi and Lakshman Singh have been named joint office secretaries. Dinesh Pratap Singh has been appointed as chief spokesperson, Manish Dixit as state media coordinator, and Himanshuraj Pandit as state social media coordinator.
The BJP has also named presidents of its various frontal organisations. Rohit Mishra has been appointed as the head of the youth wing, Prakash Pal for the OBC wing, Devendra Singh for the farmers’ wing, Ashok Rawat for the SC wing, Saroj Kushwaha for the women’s wing, and Vidyabhushan Gond for the ST wing.
Political observers say the new organisational team is part of the BJP’s strategy to energise the cadre at the booth level, strengthen its social base, and consolidate its political presence across regions ahead of the Assembly elections.