Pitching a tribal face to look after the organisational affairs in the state, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Wednesday appointed its national general secretary Gajendra Singh Patel in-charge of the party’s Jharkhand unit, besides two co-incharges, Saurabh Singh and Nivedita Singh.
A former legislator, Saurabh Singh was currently heading the Chhattisgarh Mineral Development Corporation (CMDC), while Nivedita Singh was a member of the Bihar Legislative Council, a party leader said. The central leadership appointed in-charges across all states and Union territories on Wednesday.
Patel, a two-term MP from Khargone Lok Sabha—a seat reserved for scheduled tribes in Madhya Pradesh—was made party’s national general secretary during the recent organisational rejig after Nitin Nabin became national president.
Patel replaces Laxmi Kant Vajpayee, a Rajya Sabha member from Uttar Pradesh, who was made in-charge of party affairs ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
“Patel belongs to the Bhil tribal group, the largest in terms of population across the country among all the tribal sub-groups. By choosing a tribal face for Jharkhand, the party is eyeing to win back the tribal votes that have eluded it for the past few elections. By appointing two co-incharges from the general category, the party also sent a message to all social groups, especially since it had already appointed Aditya Sahu, an OBC as state unit chief,” a senior party leader said.
Fifty-two-year-old Patel rose through the ranks in the party, having served as president of the ST Morcha in Madhya Pradesh to being national general secretary of the ST Morcha before being elevated as the organisational national general secretary.
{{/usCountry}}Fifty-two-year-old Patel rose through the ranks in the party, having served as president of the ST Morcha in Madhya Pradesh to being national general secretary of the ST Morcha before being elevated as the organisational national general secretary.
{{/usCountry}}Two Jharkhand leaders get key roles in Uttar Pradesh
Meanwhile, two leaders from the state, Rajya Sabha MP Pradip Verma and former MLA Anant Ojha have been made co-in-charges in politically important Uttar Pradesh, which goes to polls early next year.
The two have been appointed as co-incharges if UP where national general secretary Vinod Tawde has been appointed in-charge, along with two other co-in-charges, Jagdish Patel and Megha Kulkarni. While Verma was recently appointed as national secretary in Nabin’s team, Ojha is a member of Jharkhand BJP’s core committee.