The BJP President, JP Nadda, on Friday appointed State In-charge and Co-In-charge for various states across the country. The party has appointed General Secretary Vinod Tawde as in-charge of Bihar and MP Deepak Prakash as co-in-charge. Nitin Nabin has been appointed in charge of Chhattisgarh, Ashish Sood of Goa and Ajeet Gopchade of Manipur.
Interestingly, those appointed as in-charges for the Lok Sabha elections have also been made in-charges of the same states. Seven from UP are in Nadda’s team of in-charges.
Mahendra Singh and Shrikant’s stature increased
BJP has elevated former ministers Dr. Mahendra Singh and Shrikant Sharma. Dr. Mahendra Singh, who was the Jal Shakti Minister in the Yogi 1.0 government, was made the election in-charge of an important state like Madhya Pradesh, where he helped the party achieve good results. BJP achieved a clean sweep in Madhya Pradesh, winning all 29 seats.
Shrikant Sharma, who was the Energy Minister in the Yogi 1.0 government, has been given the responsibility of in-charge of Himachal Pradesh. Previously, he was made in-charge of Himachal, where BJP won all four seats. After being removed from the ministerial position in the previous government, he was not given any responsibility.
Dr. Mahendra has previously been in-charge of Assam and Tripura. In the last Rajasthan assembly elections, he was given the responsibility of 29 districts.
Additionally, Rajya Sabha MP and former national president of the Kisan Morcha, Vijaypal Singh Tomar has been made the in-charge of Odisha. He was also given the responsibility of election in-charge of Odisha during the Lok Sabha elections. In Odisha, BJP won 20 out of 21 seats. Tomar, a resident of Meerut, had been working in Odisha for quite some time. BJP also managed to form the state government in Odisha.
Radhamohan-Lakshmikant’s influence remains intact
Former state president of BJP and in-charge of Jharkhand, Dr. Lakshmikant Bajpai, was given the responsibility of election in-charge in Jharkhand itself. His stature remains intact. In 2014, Lakshmikant was the president of UP BJP when the party, along with allies, won 73 seats for the first time.
After being removed from the state president position, he lost the assembly election in 2017. Since then, this Brahmin leader was considered sidelined. However, before the 2022 assembly elections, on the initiative of Union Home Minister Amit Shah, he was made the head of the joining committee for incoming leaders. After the elections, his stature was increased by sending him to the Rajya Sabha.
After being made the chief whip in the Rajya Sabha, he was given the responsibility of Jharkhand. Subsequently, he was made the election in-charge of Jharkhand itself, where BJP won 8 out of 14 seats. His position has been maintained.
Meanwhile, former MLA of Gorakhpur Sadar and now Rajya Sabha MP Dr. Radha Mohan Agarwal has been made in-charge of Karnataka. Previously, he was made co-in-charge of Kerala and then in-charge of Karnataka elections, where BJP won 17 out of 28 seats.
Additionally, former MP Rekha Verma, who lost the election from Dhaurahra, has been made co-in-charge of Uttarakhand, and Rajya Sabha MP Surendra Nagar has been made co-in-charge of Haryana.