With chief’s post, eastern UP rules BJP

The 56-year-old, who started his career as an RSS pracharak, is also known for his proximity to Murli Manohar Joshi. The former BJP president is incidentally believed to have no love lost for outgoing state president Kesari Nath.

With today’s appointment, all the BJP leaders, from the national president of the party to the UP legislature party head and the state chief, all belong to eastern Uttar Pradesh. Rajnath himself hails from Chandauli and the new Uttar Pradesh president belongs to Gorakhpur. OP Singh, the legislature party leader, belongs to Mirzapur.

There has been a demand for Kesari Nath’s head since the BJP’s poor performance in the recent Assembly elections. Kesari Nath told The Indian Express that he had offered to quit after the results were declared.