The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Thursday appointed state Panchayati Raj Minister Bhupendra Singh Chaudhary as its new Uttar Pradesh party chief. The post was vacant since the previous state president, Swatantra Dev Singh, relinquished charge after becoming a minister in the Yogi Adityanath government 2.0. Bhupendra Singh, who hails from the Jat community, will be an important OBC face in Uttar Pradesh for the party.
“He is an organised man and somebody who has conducted himself extremely well in whatever responsibility he has been given. He has all the abilities and the capabilities to hold the post in a crucial state like Uttar Pradesh, “BJP’s Uttar Pradesh in-charge Satya Kumar said that Chaudhry is presently the Panchayati Raj minister in the Yogi government. He hails from the crucial western Uttar Pradesh belt of the state. “It is a very crucial representation given the fact that the chief minister is from the eastern part of the state; one deputy CM is from the central part of UP and now the party state president will represent the western part of the state,” Kumar said.
Chaudhary joined the BJP in 1989. Before this, he had a long stint with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). In 1999, he was asked to contest against Samajwadi patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav from the Sambhal Lok Sabha seat. He contested and lost. He was made an MLC by the party in 2016. Hailing from a family of farmers, Chaudhary played an important role in winning over the Jats in the western UP belt in the recently concluded UP assembly elections.