JOSHI, 3 OTHERS MADE STATE BJP PRESIDENTS

The BJP has made CP Joshi the president of the party’s Rajasthan unit. In Bihar, the party made Legislative Council leader of opposition Samrat Chaudhury the chief of the BJP’s state unit replacing Sanjay Jaiswal. BJP president JP Nadda appointed Manmohan Samal, a former state minister, as the head of Odisha unit, while Delhi working president Virendra Sachdeva was elevated as its chief.

Joshi, 47, is a 2-time MP from Chittorgarh and is to replace Satish Punia, who was given an extension after his tenure was over in December last. A hardcore Sangh Parivar loyalist, Joshi was the head of Yuva Morcha and currently holds the post of vice-president in the party.

Joshi’s appointment is being taken as a bid to end the factionalism in the party and is expected to be accepted by all as he is in none of the factions of the organisation.

Former CM Vasundhara

Raje, a strong contender for the face of chief minister in the coming poll, congratulated Joshi. Punia also welcomed the party’s decision and said he will continue to serve the party as a worker.

Bihar’s Samrat Chaudhury had been an RJD man since he entered politics and was minister in Rabri Devi cabinet in 1999. In 2013, Samrat had left RJD with 12 MLAs and joined JDU when Nitish Kumar snapped ties with BJP. Later, Samrat left JDU and joined BJP. He became minister in the JDU-BJP government and was given the panchayati raj ministry till BJP was removed from the alliance by Nitish in August 2022 when RJD rejoined the Grand Alliance.

In Odisha, Samal, an exMP, is a known BJP faces and seen to bring more heft than predecessor Samir Mohanty. Sachdeva in Delhi has been impressive in his short stint as the party’s state working chief following the removal of Adesh Gupta from the helm.