There is speculation about the appointment of the new president of Uttar Pradesh BJP, the inner sources of the party indicate that the state unit can get a new leader only after the election of the party’s national president. However, earlier it was being said that the name of the National President will be decided after the name of the state BJP president was decided.
The quorum required for the national election process is also one of the main reasons, in which the selection of state presidents in most states is already completed. Elections have been concluded in 28 states so far. A senior BJP leader told PTI-Bhasha, “Uttar Pradesh unit will get its new president only after the election of the national president. A clear message has been given to the UP candidates to go back and continue working at the ground level. The decision will be told when the time comes.”
However, he said that what the top leadership of the party takes about the state president cannot be estimated. When asked who would be the next president, the leader said, “It is difficult to predict right now, because the party considers not only on immediate circumstances, but also long -term electoral and political equations.”
The most politically important state of BJP has 98 organizational districts in Uttar Pradesh, including 75 administrative districts and metropolitan units. In the late March, BJP’s state organizational election in -charge and former Union Minister Dr. Mahendra Nath Pandey announced the presidents of 70 districts. Since this announcement, there was speculation that the name of the state president would be announced soon, as it is necessary to have more than half of the organizational districts for the selection process.
However, even after four months, the party has not been able to move forward yet. Even the list of members of the State Council has not yet been released, who act as voters and proposer in the presidential election. A party official told PTI that these council members are necessary to complete the election process.
The names of many potential contenders are in discussion. Given the panchayat elections to be held in 2026 and the state assembly elections to be held in 2027, it is believed that the BJP is considering the strategy of its main rival Samajwadi Party (SP) along with caste and regional factors, which has accelerated its PDA (backward, Dalit, minority) campaign.
Sources close to the party say that the BJP can once again turn to the backward class for its new state president. Since 2016, the post has been the leader of both Brahmins and OBC communities: Dr. Mahendra Nath Pandey (Brahmin), Swatantra Dev Singh, and current Bhupendra Singh Chaudhary from OBC community. In the past, the pair of OBC leader Kalyan Singh (Lodh) and Brahmin leader Kalraj Mishra helped to strengthen the BJP in the state.
However, since then the Lodh community has not been given any role of leadership. Analysts believe that this time the claim of Lodh community is strong, as Minister of State Dharampal Singh and Union Minister B.L. Verma is at the forefront of this post. However, any decision requires the consent of Kalyan Singh’s family, including his son and former MP Rajveer Singh, and grandson and Minister of State Sandeep Singh.
From the Kurmi community, which is another influential OBC group, leaders like Vinay Katiyar, Om Prakash Singh and Swatantra Dev Singh have first led the state unit, and Singh is once again considered a strong contender. Other names include Rajya Sabha MP Babu Lal Nishad and former Union Minister Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti, both from the Nishad community.
If the BJP decides to appoint a Brahmin as the state president, the potential candidates include former Deputy Chief Minister and Rajya Sabha MP Dinesh Sharma, party general secretary and MLC Govind Narayan Shukla, Gautam Budh Nagar MP Mahesh Sharma and former MP Harish Dwivedi.
The BJP is also eyeing Dalit voters, especially on the impressive Sonkar sub -caste spread from eastern to western Uttar Pradesh. In this context, the name of former MP and former state general secretary Vidyasagar Sonkar is being considered. Many non-Jatav Dalit leaders are also said to be claimants.
On contact, BJP state spokesperson Harishchandra Srivastava told PTI-language, “The organizational election process in BJP follows the order from booths to mandal and then district. Only after these elections the state president is selected by the members of the State Council.”
“After the elections are over in more than half the districts, the party’s central leadership will announce the program through the nominated Election Officer and the state president will be selected accordingly,” he said.
Bhupendra Singh Chaudhary, an OBC (Jat), is the current state president, who was appointed in August 2022 – the move was seen as an attempt to re -organize the party’s caste equations in western Uttar Pradesh.
