BJP's Uttar Pradesh unit to get a new chief this weekend? These are the frontrunners
The name of the next BJP UP chief is expected to be announced by central election officer and union minister Piyush Goyal over the weekend.
The Uttar Pradesh unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is set to have its new president as the central leadership is expected to declare the name on Sunday, December 14, according to reports.
The name of the next chief will be announced by central election officer and union minister Piyush Goyal, BJP state election officer and former union minister Dr Mahendra Nath Pandey was quoted as saying by news agency PTI.
The development becomes all the more important in Uttar Pradesh in view of upcoming Panchayat elections scheduled for next year and 2027 Assembly polls.
List of frontrunners for BJP's UP unit chief
While there is no clarity on the probable names for the coveted post, names of some BJP leaders have floated across reports as frontrunners. Several new names are also being floated for the post of BJP's Uttar Pradesh chief, PTI reported, citing party sources.
- Pankaj Chaudhary- Union minister of state for finance and a seventh-term MP from the Maharajganj parliamentary constituency, Chaudhary is a member of the Kurmi caste, an Other Backward Class (OBC). He is considered a trusted confidante of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, home minister Amit Shah, and defence minister Rajnath Singh, according to the news agency.
- Swatantra Dev Singh- Jal Shakti minister in the Uttar Pradesh government, Singh - also a member of the Kurmi caste - is reportedly one of the frontrunners as well. He was among the BJP leaders who were assigned key duties in Bihar Assembly polls that concluded last month with the saffron party's sweeping victory.
- UP minister Dharampal Singh and union minister BL Verma, both from the Lodh community are also being speculated to be among the top contenders.
- Former union minister Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti, who hails from the fisherman (Nishad) community, and the party's Rajya Sabha member Baburam Nishad is also in the running.
- UP deputy chief minister and former state president Keshav Prasad Maurya's name is also being discussed. During his tenure as BJP's UP chief in 2017, the BJP and its allies secured 325 of the 403 seats in the 2017 Assembly elections.
- Other names being discussed include deputy chief minister Brajesh Pathak, BJP state general secretary Govind Narayan Shukla, former MP Harish Dwivedi, former deputy chief minister Dr Dinesh Sharma, and Vijay Bahadur Pathak.
- Among Dalit leaders, former BJP general secretary Vidyasagar Sonkar, former MP Jugal Kishore, who left the BSP before 2017, and former MP Vinod Sonkar, among others, are considered to be in the race for the state president, per the report.
How will the next party president be chosen?
UP BJP state election officer Pandey has released the list of 425 members of the state council who are authorised to vote in the state president's election. The nominations for the state president and members of the national council will be filed on Saturday, December 12, between 2 pm and 3 pm.
Scrutiny of nomination papers will take place on Saturday from 3:00 pm to 4:00 pm, according to the PTI report. Withdrawals can be done between 4:00 pm and 5:00 pm and if necessary, voting for the state president will be held on Sunday. The state president and members of the national council will be announced on the same day.
With inputs from PTI
