UP BJP unveils new team: Rajnath Singh’s younger son finds place
MLA Pooja Pal, who was expelled by SP last year, and former minister Suresh Rana made vice-presidents; Gorakhpur, Varanasi get lion’s share
Neeraj Singh replaced Noida MLA and his brother Pankaj Singh. (Photo: Facebook/Neeraj Singh) The Uttar Pradesh BJP on Thursday announced its 46-member team of office-bearers including 19 vice-presidents, eight general secretaries and 19 secretaries as the party president Pankaj Chaudhary formed the biggest team of state office-bearers in comparison to past teams. The outgoing team had 41 office-bearers.
The new team will overlook organisational affairs and preparations for the 2027 Assembly elections.
The most striking appointment was that of Neeraj Singh, the son of Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, as one of the vice-presidents. He replaced Noida MLA and his brother Pankaj Singh. However, sources said that Pankaj himself had requested the party leadership to relieve him from organisational responsibilities.
The appointment of the new team has triggered unease within the party. “It seems like a large number of appointments have come based on the recommendations of senior leaders or directly from Delhi. For instance, Dinesh Pratap Singh, who has been appointed chief spokesperson, has never been part of the party’s state media team,” a senior office-bearer said.
Another leader raised questions on the representation of Jats in the team. “Apart from appointing two Jats in the state team, the party has also appointed another Jat leader from western UP as the president of Kisan Morcha. The BJP is giving prominence to Jats despite having an alliance with Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD), of which the Jats are core support base. The new development may create a conflict between local leaders and the two parties ahead of the 2027 elections,” the leader said.
Other notable names
Apart from Neeraj, another significant name in the list is Samajwadi Party (SP) MLA Pooja Pal, who too has been appointed vice-president. Pal, the wife of late BSP legislator Raju Pal, was expelled from the SP for alleged anti-party activities within hours of her praising Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath in the Assembly on August 14 last year for claiming that “mafias like Atiq Ahmed had been reduced to dust”.
In 2023, former MP Atiq Ahmed and his brother Ashraf — both accused in Raju Pal’s murder case — were shot dead outside a Prayagraj hospital while being taken for a medical check-up under police custody.
Yet another notable appointment is that of TV journalist Yatendra Sharma, who has found a place in the list as one of the secretaries.
A total of 12 women (26%) have found a place in the team, up from the 11 in the outgoing team. Geeta Shakya, who was the state Mahila Morcha president, has been appointed general secretary of the party.
Shakya has been replaced by Saroj Kushwaha while Rohit Mishra will be the new state president of the Yuva Morcha. Prakash Pal will head the state OBC Morcha while Devendra Singh will lead the Kisan Morcha. Ashok Rawat has been appointed as the head of the SC Morcha while Vidya Bhushan Gond will helm the party’s ST Morcha in the state.
Most of the faces in the new team are first-timers while over three dozen were also part of the previous team.
In the new team, 21 belong to upper castes — seven Thakurs, seven Brahmins and seven other different upper castes like Bhumihar, Kayasth, Vaishya, etc. The Other Backward Castes (OBCs) got 19 faces while Yadav, Jats, Gurjars, Rajbhars, Nishads, etc have seen the marginal representation. Six Dalits are also a part of the team.
With regard to region-wise distribution, 28% office-bearers are from eastern UP with at least six from Gorakhpur and five from Varanasi. Chief Minister Yogi Adityanah and state president Pankaj Chaudhary hail from Gorakhpur whereas Varanasi has gained high-profile status as it is Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s constituency.
Other regions like western UP, Awadh, Braj and Bundelkhand have also found representation.
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