Highlights
- Bhupendra Chaudhary appointed UP BJP chief
- The move is seen as BJP’s attempt to reach out to the influential Jat community
- He replaces Swatantra Dev Singh, who has been made a minister in the Yogi govt
Uttar Pradesh minister Bhupendra Chaudhary has been appointed as the BJP’s state unit chief. The likely appointment of Chaudhary is seen as BJP’s attempt to reach out to the influential Jat community, which was at the forefront of the year-long farmers’ protest against the three contentious farm laws.
With Chaudhary’s appointment, Uttar Pradesh has become the third state where the BJP is headed by a Jat leader, after O P Dhankar in Haryana and Satish Poonia in Rajasthan. Chaudhary, the cabinet minister for Panchayati Raj in the state, met BJP president J P Nadda late on Wednesday evening.
He replaced Swatantra Dev Singh, who has been made a minister in the Yogi Adityanath government. As the chief minister hails from eastern Uttar Pradesh, the BJP also looks to strike a regional balance with the appointment of Chaudhary, who is from western Uttar Pradesh, as the party’s state chief.
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