BJP Sounds The Poll Bugle For 4 Election Bound States, Trusted Organisation Old Hands Named In-Charge

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on 17 June announced new state election in-charges, also known as Chunav Prabharis in political parlance, for the states of Maharashtra, Jharkhand, Haryana and the union territory of Jammu and Kashmir.

According to the party’s press release, the appointments have been made by the party chief Jagat Prakash Nadda considering the state assembly elections expected to be conducted in the three states and the union territory this year.

In Maharashtra, which is expected to see a state assembly election in October this year, senior party functionary and Union Minister Bhupendra Yadav has been named as the state election in-charge while Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnav has been made his deputy. 

In the northern state of Haryana, Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan has been made the state election in-charge while former Tripura Chief Minister and Lok Sabha Member Biplab Kumar Deb has been made his deputy. 

Union Minister G Kishan Reddy has been named as the lone election in-charge for the union territory of Jammu and Kashmir.

The BJP’s choices for Maharashtra, Haryana and Jharkhand seem to have been conscious ones considering that the new poll in-charges for these three states- Yadav, Pradhan and Chouhan- were all student activists in the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) before joining the party. The leaders supposedly enjoy good rapport with the cadre on ground.

Notably, appointment of Union Minister Yadav, who is seen as an efficient organiser, as the poll strategy in-charge for Maharashtra is expected to come in handy to the BJP state unit there as the party’s Lok Sabha seat share in the state dropped from 23 to nine in the recently concluded general elections.

The saffron party is also expected to announce it's new President soon as the term of the present party chief Nadda will end on 30 June.