Amid buzz of new state chief, cabinet expansion, BJP-RSS top brass to meet in Ghaziabad
Top Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and state Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leadership led by CM Yogi Adityanath will have a closed-door meeting in Ghaziabad on Wednesday amid buzz of long pending election of ruling party’s new UP chief and expansion of the state cabinet.
State BJP chief Bhupendra Chaudhary and general secretary (organisation) Dharampal Singh will represent the party organisation in the high-profile meeting. Party’s national general secretary (organisation) BL Santhosh will represent the BJP’s central leadership.
On the RSS front, joint general secretary (sah-sarkaryavah) Arun Kumar, Kshetra pracharaks Anil Kumar (eastern UP) and Mahendra Sharma (western UP) along with others will attend the meeting.
According to a senior BJP leader, in this coordination meeting discussion is likely to take place on the new state president of the party for which the state BJP has completed the process. The process involves election of party’s district presidents.
As per a senior BJP leader, the new state president is most likely to be from the reserved caste group who wields considerable influence among electorates of his caste.
The second most important topic likely to figure in the meeting will be the proposed expansion of the state cabinet. In the proposed expansion, some new faces will be inducted in the cabinet while some might also be removed for a new responsibility in the party organisation.
“The new state president is most likely to be from the scheduled caste category and the second option will be from the OBC,” said a senior BJP leader.
“The new state president will be elected keeping in view the 2027 assembly polls in the state,” he added. The ruling party is going all out to regain lost ground after its below par performance in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls in Uttar Pradesh.
It was primarily due to shifting of OBC and Dalit votes to the Samajwadi Party’s Pichda, Dalit and Alpsankhyak (PDA) formulation. In four successive poll victories in Uttar Pradesh—2014 and 2019 Lok Sabha and 2017, 2022 assembly polls- the BJP managed the most diverse representation minus Muslims by keeping intact its caste umbrella– broadly non-Jatav Dalits, non-Yadav OBCs and upper castes.
In the 2024 Lok Sabha poll, the SP’s PDA formulation succeeded in bringing a large chunk of OBC and Dalits into its fold, giving a formidable blow to the BJP.
The BJP’s tally in Uttar Pradesh came down to 33 in the last Lok Sabha election from 62 in 2019. According to sources, the state BJP is likely to get a new president within the next few days.
