New look UP BJP panel with focus on women, caste

LUCKNOW : Amid the hullabaloo over alleged neglect of Brahmins in UP, an issue being raised by the opposition and a few ruling party lawmakers too, the BJP announced its new team on Saturday for the state comprising 16 vice presidents, 7 general secretaries, 16 secretaries and two treasurers.

Chosen with 2022 UP assembly polls in mind, the team is dominated by two numerically dominant caste groups— OBCs (12) and Dalits (8)— who together make up for nearly 50 per cent of the new 42-member UP BJP panel but followed immediately after by Brahmins (8), Thakurs (7), Vaishyas (5) and Bhumihaars (2).

The team, headed by an OBC chief Swatantra Dev Singh Patel, 56, has a young look with majority being under 55.

Half of the team comprises new faces but there are not any big surprises as those left out were mainly those who had either found a place in the Yogi government or failed to make it this time due to age issues.

Women’s representation gone up substantially with 10 new faces against 4 that were there in the then UP BJP chief Mahendra Nath Pandey’s (now a union minister) team.

These include Priyanka Singh Rawat, the former MP from Barabanki, who has been named general secretary of UP BJP.

Poonam Bajaj, an advocate and social activist from Aligarh is another woman in the panel as is Anamika Choudhary, the former deputy mayor of Prayagraj.

Shakuntala Chauhan, the secretary of Gorakhpur region, has been included in the new team along with Meena Chaubey, a member of women’s commission from Varanasi.

Neelam Sonker, a dalit from Azamgarh is also in it and so is Sunita Dayal from Ghaziabad.

Meerut’s veteran leader Kanta Kardam is also in it along with former Agra mayor Anjula Mahaur.

“I think this could well be the biggest representation of women in any UP BJP panel and it shows the party’s focus on them. It’s a very heartening development,” said Darshana Singh, who heads the women’s panel in UP BJP.

Moreover, there is a rejig of roles for some like Pankaj Singh and Vijay Bahadur Pathak, both general secretaries in the outgoing team, who have been named vice presidents in the new team.

Subhash Yaduvansh, who was heading the party’s youth wing, has now been included in the main body while Chandramohan Singh, a spokesman in the outgoing team, has been elevated as secretary.

JPS Rathore, vice president in the previous team, has been made general secretary.

Laxman Acharya, a key party hand, has also been named vice president while Daya Shankar Singh, who was previously sacked for his remarks against BSP chief Mayawati, has found a place as a vice president.

Govind Narayan Shukla from Amethi has been made general secretary. “It’s a perfectly balanced team,” said BJP’s Manish Dixit.