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Jat leader Bhupendra Singh Chaudhary made UP BJP chief with eye on LS polls
The party also named Rajib Bhattacharjee, the Tripura BJP vice-president known to be close to former chief minister Biplab Deb, as the new president of the state unit
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Thursday appointed Bhupendra Singh Chaudhary, a Jat leader and minister in the Yogi Adityanath government, as the party’s Uttar Pradesh unit president.
The party also named Rajib Bhattacharjee, the Tripura BJP vice-president known to be close to former chief minister Biplab Deb, as the new president of the state unit. Both appointments have been made with immediate effect.
The appointment of Chaudhary (54), who is also the Panchayati Raj minister in the BJP-led Uttar Pradesh government, is seen as the party’s attempt to reach out to the influential Jat community ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, senior BJP leaders said.
The Jat community was at the forefront of the year-long farmers’ protest against the now-repealed three contentious farm laws.
Chaudhary replaced Swatantra Dev Singh, who was made a minister in the Adityanath cabinet after the BJP won the state assembly polls earlier this year.
“He (Chaudhary) has a strong organisational understanding, as he has worked at the grassroots level. During the 2017 assembly elections, he was president of the party’s western region,” said a party functionary, requesting anonymity. “His influence among the Jat community will definitely help the party in the 2024 elections.”
Soon after the announcement, Chaudhary told reporters that the party has fixed a target of winning all 80 seats in the state in 2024.
“I will try to achieve the target fixed for the 2024 polls under the leadership of Narendra Modi. We have fixed the target of winning all 80 seats in UP,” he said.
CM Adityanath hailed Chaudhary’s appointment, saying he will lead the party to new benchmarks of success in the state.
“Hearty congratulations and best wishes to senior and popular politician Shri Bhupendra Singh Chaudhary ji on becoming the president of @BJP4UP,” Adityanath tweeted in Hindi. “Undoubtedly, under your energetic leadership, the BJP will set new benchmarks of success in the state with the spirit of ‘sabka saath, sabka vikas, sabka vishwas, sabka prayas’.”
Rajib Bhattacharjee, who joined the BJP in 1990 and is considered close to former Tripura chief minister Biplab Kumar Deb, will take over the state chief’s post from incumbent CM Manik Saha, who has been holding the post since 2020.
“As our party has one man, one post policy, a new state president has been appointed. We are confident of progress of our party’s activities under the leadership of the new president,” said BJP spokesperson Nabendu Bhattacharya.
“BJP national president JP Nadda has appointed Rajib Bhattacharjee as the new Tripura state president with immediate effect,” read a letter signed by the party’s national general secretary Arun Singh.
The BJP has also appointed Saudan Singh as election in-charge of Himachal Pradesh, where assembly elections are scheduled for later this year, and Devender Singh Rana as the co-incharge.
