BJP gets new state chiefs in UP, Maharashtra

New Delhi: The BJP on Tuesday named Uttar Pradesh Cabinet minister and a prominent OBC leader in the state, Swatantra Dev Singh to succeed Mahendra Nath Pandey as its state unit chief.

In Maharashtra, the saffron party named one of its prominent Maratha faces, Chandrakant Patil to lead the state un-it of the poll going state.     

Mr Pandey is now part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s team. Mr Patil succeeds Raosaheb Danve Patil, who is a minister in the Modi government.

Also, former SP leader and son of former prime minister Chandra Shekhar, Neeraj Shekhar joined the saffron fold and said that the support the PM received in the general election “convinced me that if I have to work in national interest, then I should work under him and Amit Shah” and asserted that the “country is convinced that it is safe under them.”

In UP, OBCs have consolidated behind the BJP in a significant numbers and played a crucial role in its massive victory in the 2017 Assembly poll as well as the recent Lok Sabha election.

In a statement, the BJP also announced the appointment of Mangal Prabhat Lodha as its Mumbai unit chief, replacing Ashish Shelar, who was recently inducted in the BJP government in Maharashtra.