Run-up to Lok Sabha Polls | Reshuffle on the ground too: BJP to appoint new district chiefs in Uttar Pradesh

UP BJP chief Bhupendra Singh Chaudhary, who in March announced a 45-member team of state office bearers and six regional presidents, told The Indian Express that the names of new district presidents would be announced soon.

“Experience in organisational works and understanding of the party functioning will be criteria for the selection of district presidents,” he said.

“District units are key organisational bodies to run party activities on the ground. Most of the current district presidents have completed their three-year terms. Rather, many of them are working for over four to five years. So, the presidents in up to 80 per cent of districts are likely to be changed. The selection of new district presidents has begun and their names will be announced after the ongoing voter outreach campaign ‘Maha Jan Sampark Abhiyan’ concludes on July 15,” said a senior BJP functionary.

The leader said the party had planned to change district presidents around four months ago but it was postponed given the urban local body elections held in April-May.

As the district presidents play an important role in the selection of candidates and the management of organisational programmes for the urban local body elections, the party decided to continue with the sitting leadership at the district level considering they understand the local political scenario and had workers and district executive committees working on the ground for the past three to four years.

“But as the civic polls are over and the party has started preparations for the Lok Sabha elections, any delay in the announcement of district presidents will further delay the formation of district executive committees. The party wants new district presidents and their teams to start working on the ground at least eight months before the Lok Sabha elections,” said the leader.

According to sources, some senior party leaders with experience in election management are likely to be promoted to the party’s central unit. Radha Mohan Singh, the current in-charge of UP, is BJP national vice-president and an MP from Bihar. “There is no fixed tenure for a state in-charge. As Singh has to prepare for his election back home in Bihar, the central leadership is searching for a new UP in-charge, whose name is likely to be announced by the end of this month,” said a leader.

What the move underlines

The decision to appoint new district unit chiefs in electorally significant UP comes in the wake of the party’s central leadership appointing new state unit chiefs in several states and the buzz around the impending changes in the Union Cabinet. The synergetic decisions underline the BJP’s move to overhaul the organisation to make it battle ready for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.