BJP may opt for an old guard as UP state chief

LUCKNOW: Will the BJP opt for an old guard to head its UP unit? The question has assumed much pertinence amid the possibility of state general secretary (organisation) Sunil Bansal, an RSS appointee, getting shifted to some other state.
The incumbent UP BJP chief Swatantra Dev Singh has been accommodated as a cabinet minister in the Yogi Adityanath cabinet, which has necessitated the search for a new state president.
While the BJP keeps its cards close to its chest, the political spotlight will shift to the party's two-day national office-bearers meeting scheduled to be held in Jaipur on May 20 and 21, which is expected to lay a formal template for the saffron outfit's organisational command in politically crucial UP.
The party think tank believes that appointing a well-established party rank as the new UP BJP president will compensate for Bansal who is said to have been a key party strategist who has kept his fingers on the raw pulse of UP politics since 2014 when BJP won a record 71 seats in the Lok Sabha elections.
Sources said that a robust state organisational set up commanded by a well-versed leader was crucial for the BJP in the run-up to the high-stake 2024 Lok Sabha elections when PM Narendra Modi would seek a third consecutive term.
"We are waiting for a final decision from the party national leadership about the change of guard in UP. The party expects to have a leader who is dynamic and is well-versed with the state's affairs," said UP BJP spokesperson Hero Bajpai.
The party circles are already abuzz with the names of a host of senior functionaries who might be handed over the command of the state unit. Sources said that if the BJP appointed a Brahmin as the new state president -- it has been a trend before every Lok Sabha elections since 2014 -- then the party may consider former UP BJP chief and Deoria MP Ramapati Ram Tripathi.
The name of former state unit president and ex-Meerut MLA Laxmikant Bajpai and Ram Naresh Agnihotri, who won from Mainpuri for the second consecutive term have also started doing the rounds.
Speculations have also been rife about the BJP going in for a dramatic shift in strategy by appointing an OBC or a Dalit. Among OBC leaders the party think tank is considering the name of Rajya Sabha member BL Verma. A Lodh, Verma is also junior Union minister for north-east development.
Prominent Dalit leader and Etawah MP Ram Shankar Katheria is also in the fray. A former Vibhag Pracharak of the RSS, Katheria has been chairperson of National Commission for Schedule Caste. As a matter of fact, the BJP has been seeking to make strong inroads in the vote bank of BSP chief Mayawati whose political stature took a severe hit in the recently held UP polls where her party could win just one seat.
About Bansal's replacement, sources said that the BJP contemplated names like Ratnakar or Chandra Shekhar (both of them are from UP), but no decision was taken as they were heading the organisational command in Gujarat and Rajasthan, respectively, where elections are due soon.