Civic polls drawing close, BJP sets out to fill up key party posts

Among the names doing rounds in party circles for the post of BJP state president include Mathura MLA and former power minister Shrikant Sharma, former Deputy Chief Minister Dinesh Sharma, Aligarh MP Satish Kumar Gautam and Kannauj MP Subrat Pathak – all of whom belong to the Brahmin community.

Sources said that party’s would be sticking to its ‘one man, one post’ policy while selecting candidates and would announcing the new president of its state unit within a month.

Apart from the state unit chief, the BJP is also looking for replacements for former BJP state vice-presidents Daya Shankar Singh and Arvind Kumar Sharma, general secretary JPS Rathore and BJP OBC Morcha state president Narendra Kashyap – all of whom were sworn in as ministers in Yogi Adityanath’s new government.

Party sources said that the appointments for the other posts will be made immediately after the nomination of the BJP state president.

Dinesh Sharma

They also said that the party plans to induct more ministers in the state cabinet who so far have not been elected as members of either Vidhan Sabha or the Legislative Council – within six months.

“In the current government, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath is a Kshatriya from east Uttar Pradesh, while Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya is a prominent OBC leader from central Uttar Pradesh. The other Deputy Chief Minister Brajesh Pathak is a Brahmin from Awadh region of central Uttar Pradesh. The party is most likely to pick a Brahmin face from the western part of the state, or the Bundelkhand or Braj regions for next state president to maintain a regional balance. Also, to get the support of upper caste voters, the party is most likely to pick a Brahmin,” said party leader.

However, there are a few voices in the BJP that claim that nothing can be said for sure.

“Nothing is certain in the party when key decisions are taken by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah. A leader belonging to the OBC community or Scheduled Castes (SC) may also be picked, while keeping in mind the bigger picture. The party needs a dynamic face that can look after organisational activities across the state.”  However, sources said that so far none of the names being considered by state-level leaders was an OBC or SC leader.

Party leaders that the BJP brass would be organisign several programmes in April and a full-time state president would be required to oversee their successful implementation.

“Among the activities planned, there is a micro-donation collection drive starting from April 6, which is BJP’s Foundation Day. As part of the drive, party workers can donate any amount from from Rs 5 to Rs 1,000,” said a source.

The party has planned a series of programme for the week starting April 14 that is is Dr BR Ambedkar’s birth anniversary. “The programmes include community feasts and seminars based on Ambedkar’s life and thoughts in every district. The objective is to ramp up BJP reach among SC voters,” said a party functionary.