A day after the BJP elevated Bihar minister Nitin Nabin as the party’s national working president, it announced former minister and six-time Darbhanga Sadar MLA Sanjay Saraogi as its state president. He replaces Dilip Jaiswal, who is currently the state’s industry minister.
With Saraogi’s appointment a month after its sweeping win in the state Assembly elections, the BJP has once again returned to its core Vaishya leadership base in the state. In recent years, leaders from the community such as Sanjay Jaiswal and Dilip Jaiswal have served as state BJP presidents. In the interim, the party had also appointed Nityanand Rai (OBC Yadav) and Samrat Choudhary (OBC Kushwaha) to the post.
Born in 1969, the 56-year-old leader began his political career with the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP). He became district mantri of the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) in 1999 and was elected as a councillor in 2002. In 2003, he was appointed the mahamantri of the BJP for Darbhanga district. Three years later, Saraogi became the party’s Darbhanga Nagar mandal president.
Considered a good organiser within the party, Saraogi first won the Darbhanga Sadar Assembly seat in the February 2005 elections and has since represented the constituency six consecutive times. One of the high points of his legislative career was his victory in the 2015 Assembly elections, when the NDA faced defeat against the Nitish Kumar-led Mahagathbandhan.
Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary welcomed Saraogi’s elevation, saying, “I extend my warm wishes to Sanjay Saraogi on becoming the state president. Under your leadership, the Bihar BJP organisation will undoubtedly embark on historic achievements, driven by renewed energy and a spirit of dedicated public service.”
“I am overwhelmed that the party has entrusted me with such a responsibility. I am thankful to the central leadership and will try my best to live up to their expectations,” Saraogi told reporters following his appointment.
BJP state vice-president Santosh Pathak told The Indian Express that Saraogi would bring “good results” in the coming days. “I have worked with him and I can say without a doubt that the state unit will undergo a transition under him. He will be a leader who will bring the organisation back to its basics,” he said.
