UP BJP plans major revamp for 2019 polls

Lucknow: The Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) in Uttar Pradesh is awaiting a major overhaul with an eye on the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

Several new faces are expected to get important positions in the party organisation that has invariably been dominated by mostly veterans till recently.

According to sources, the vacancies created by the inclusion of party leaders in the state government have not been filled as yet and some other major changes are also expected. “Since the state BJP has a new president in Dr Mahendra Nath Pandey, the organisation will be revamped completely,” said a party functionary.

Former state BJP president Keshav Maurya is already a deputy chief minister in the Yogi Adityanath government while party vice president Dinesh Sharma is also holding the same position in the state government.

Two vice-presidents Shiv Pratap Shukla and Satyapal Singh are now ministers in the Modi government. UP BJP Mahila Morcha president Swati Singh is also a minister in the Yogi government.

Sources said that Mr Pankaj Singh, son of Union home minister Rajnath Singh, could be given a major responsibility in the party organisation since he has not been included in the council of ministers.

Moreover, from the central party organisation, Mr Shrikant Sharma, Mr Siddhartha Nath Singh, Dr Mahendra Singh and Mr Dara Singh Chauhan have also taken over ministerial responsibilities in Uttar Pradesh.

A senior party functionary said that a meeting in this regard will be held in Delhi later this month to finalise the new names for the organisational set up.

“We need a vibrant, active, effective and balanced organizational set up because the Lok Sabha elections are round the corner. This will not be a please-all committee because our president Amit Shah is certainly not in an obliging mood at the coast of the results,” the leader explained.

Since chief minister Yogi Adityanath belongs to the Thakur community and the state BJP president Dr Mahendra Nath Pandey is a brahmin, the new organisational set up will give greater representation to dalits, OBCs and marginalised caste groups.

Younger leaders, including legislators, could be given important positions since that they infuse the organization with more energy and also make it easy for them to relate to the youth.

Some senior leaders and old timers, however, could be a part of a ‘Margdarshak Mandal’ and function in an advisory capacity. These leaders will guide the team and help whenever required”, the leader said.