After government formation in UP, reshuffle in BJP on cards

NEW DELHI: The formation of the Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh is set to lead to a reshuffle in the Bharatiya Janata Party, five of whose central level and seven state level office-bearers have been inducted in the council of ministers.

The party’s central office-bearers who have joined the state government include its national vice-president Dinesh Sharma; national secretaries Shrikant Sharma, Siddharth Nath Singh and Mahendra Singh; and Data Singh Chauhan, who was made national OBC morcha chief ahead of the assembly election in the state.

Dinesh Sharma and Shrikant Sharma are also the party’s central incharge of Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh, respectively.

Incidentally, both these states are going to the polls later this year. Siddharth Nath Singh is the in-charge of West Bengal and Andhra Pradesh, while Mahendra Singh has been incharge of Assam, where last year he oversaw the BJP’s victory for the first time in the state.

BJP’s UP unit, likewise, has seen seven of its office-bearers joining the new government. While state unit chief KP Maurya has taken charge as a deputy CM, VPs Dharmpal Singh, Ashutosh Tandon and Suresh Rana, along with general secretaries Swatantra Dev Singh and Anupama Jaiswal, too have joined the government.

BJP’s state women’s wing chief Swati Singh has also been inducted in the government. “Obviously an organisational reshuffle is required after these inductions,” a BJP leader from UP said after the government took office in Lucknow on Sunday.