Upper caste, OBC in focus as BJP changes 69 district unit chiefs in U.P.

In a major organisational rejig ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Uttar Pradesh changed 69 (around 70%) of its district unit presidents on Friday. State party president Bhupendra Singh Chaudhary released a list of 98 district unit presidents. This is because as the party has divided the state into 98 organisational district units.

The upper caste, considered the traditional support base of the BJP, has been given maximum 57 posts of district units president. It is followed by the Other Backward Class (OBC) as 36 new district unit presidents are from it. The OBC had played a vital role in the BJP’s victory in the 2014 and 2019 general elections.

To check old rivalry between the Brahmin and the Rajput communities, the ruling party has maintained a balance in the appointment of the Brahmin and Rajput presidents. While 21 district presidents belong to Brahmin community, 20 are from Rajput community, 8 from Vaishya, 5 from Kayastha while 3 district presidents belong to upper caste Bhumihar community.

Moreover, only five district unit presidents are from Dalit community. The representation of women is also insignificant as the party has appointed merely four women district presidents. Surprisingly, there is no district unit chief from among Pasmanda Muslims.

However, the BJP has reposed faith in 29 district unit presidents who will continue to serve in the same capacity despite the major overhaul. On the other hand, 19 big districts will have two presidents—one for the district unit the second for the city unit.

The reorganisation in the district units was long awaited after the appointment of Bhupendra Singh Chaudhary as the BJP Uttar Pradesh unit president in August 2022. In March, party’s new regional presidents were appointed. With the Lok Sabha election expected early next year, the party has restructured the organisation at the district level.

The BJP has divided the state into 98 organisational district units. The Awadh region has 15 district units, Gorakhpur region 12, Kashi 16, Kanpur 17, west UP 19 and Braj region has 19 district units. Maximum 17 of the 19 district unit presidents have been changed in west U.P.

The BJP has also changed the district unit president of Mau district where the BJP lost the Ghosi assembly bypoll recently. Nupur Agarwal has replaced Praveen Gupta as the BJP Mau district unit president. The district and city unit presidents of Varanasi represented by PM Narendra Modi in Lok Sabha as well Gorakhpur, the home turf of chief minister Yogi Adityanath, have not been changed.

Vidya Sagar Rai continues as the president of the party’s Varanasi city unit and Hansraj Vishwakarma of the district unit. Likewise, Rajesh Gupta continues as the president of BJP Gorakhpur city unit and Yudshithir Singh as chief of party’s Gorakhpur district unit.

BJP state unit president Bhupendra Singh Chaudhary in post on X (formerly Twitter) said, “Hearty congratulations to all the newly appointed district presidents of Bharatiya Janata Party, Uttar Pradesh and best wishes for a bright tenure.”

“The committed party workers, who had played active role in the expansion of the organisation and victory of the party in the elections, have been given prominence in the appointments. Although the party bagged all the 17 mayoral posts in the civic polls, the results of the chairpersons of Nagar Palika Parishad and Nagar Panchayats were not according to the expectations,” a BJP leader said.

“The presidents whose work was unsatisfactory have been removed and those who worked hard for the victory in the civic polls have been rewarded,” he added.

“Before the crucial 2024 Lok Sabha election, the BJP has given a clear message to the workers that those who work hard for the party’s victory in the election will be rewarded. Party workers have been made presidents of the district and city units in the reshuffle,” he said.

Anand Dwivedi has been made the president of BJP Lucknow city unit while Vinay Pratap Singh is the president of party’s district unit. Suresh Jain has been made the president of party’s Meerut city unit and Shivkumar Rana will be the district unit president there. Sanjeev Sharma has been made the president of Ghaziabad city unit and Satyapal Pradhan of the party’s district unit.

Bhanu Mahajan has been made the president of BJP’s Agra city unit and Giriraj Kushwaha of the district unit. Vinod Prajapati has been made the president of BJP’sPrayagraj Trans-Yamuna unit, Kavita Patel of Prayagraj Trans-Ganga unit and Rajendra Mishra of Prayagraj city unit.

Adhir Saxena has been made the president of party’s Bareilly city unit and Pawan Sharma of the district unit. Similarly, Buddhilal Pasi has been made the president of Rae Bareli district unit. Kamlesh Srivastava has been made the president of party’s Ayodhya city unit and Sanjiv Singh of the district unit.

Deepu Pandey has been made president of Kanpur city North unit, Shivram Singh of city South unit, Manoj Shukla of Kanpur Dehat and Dinesh Kushawaha of Kanpur rural unit.