The appointments followed consultations between the central leadership, chief minister Yogi Adityanath and senior state leaders. The party also sought to accommodate key organisational and political camps.
“Along with caste, we have also tried to manage the equations of all senior leaders,” a senior Uttar Pradesh BJP leader told ET.
Defence minister Rajnath Singh‘s son Neeraj Singh has been appointed a state vice president. His brother, MLA Pankaj Singh, held the same post in the previous team.
Union home minister Amit Shah’s close aide Ankur Sharma, who worked in BJP’s district unit in Uttar Pradesh and comes from an RSS-linked family, has been appointed a state secretary. Yatendra Sharma, who was working as a journalist in a Hindi news channel and comes from an RSS background, has also been inducted as a secretary.
The new team reflects the growing influence of BJP national president Nitin Nabin, with several leaders who worked with him during his Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha days – including Rajesh Yadav, Rajesh Chaudhary, Abhijat Mishra, Dinesh Pratap Singh and Shiv Bhushan – getting key organisational responsibilities.
The new team comprises 19 vice-presidents, eight general secretaries and 19 state secretaries. BJP has also replaced all six regional presidents. Manish Dixit has been retained as state media coordinator for a fourth consecutive term, while Dinesh Pratap Singh has been named chief spokesperson and Himanshu Raj Pandit social media coordinator.Party leaders said the overhaul is aimed at expanding BJP’s social outreach and strengthening it.
