Two controversial leaders, who were earlier removed, have been brought back by the BJP.
BJP state president Mahendra Nath Pandey has included over a dozen new faces to rejig his team which will take Uttar Pradesh to the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.
As was expected, Brahmins were given due prominence but Pandey did a little social engineering to woo Dalits and OBCs by appointing prominent leaders from these castes in his team.
Two controversial leaders, who were earlier removed, have been brought back. Daya Shanker Singh, who was sacked by the party after he used derogatory words against BSP Supremo Mayawati, is back as vice-president.
Former Union Minister and party MP Sanjeev Baliyan, who was dropped from the Modi Cabinet, too was given a place in the new team as vice-president. Baliyan is also an accused in Muzaffarnagar riots.
In his new team, Pandey has appointed 15 vice-presidents, seven general secretaries and 15 secretaries while he has kept one post each of vice-president and general secretary vacant. Many of the posts were lying vacant after party state office-bearers had become ministers in the Yogi Adityanath Cabinet.
Pandey retained most of the old, trusted office-bearers in the new team. Rajbir Singh, son of Rajasthan Governor Kalyan Singh, and Mahesh Srivastava are the only exceptions who were dropped in the new team. Rajbir is learnt to have been kept out following Kasganj communal riots.
Sunil Bansal, party national president Amit Shah's Man Friday in UP, has been elevated as general secretary. Govind Narain Shukla alias Raja Babu from Amethi has been made general secretary on the recommendation of Union Minister Smriti Irani.
Other Brahmin faces who were given a chance for the first time in the new BJP team included Trayamak Tripathi, Subrat Pathak and Ramtej Pandey as secretaries. Besides Brahmins, Pandey has also included two new Dalit faces to woo Mayawati's core vote-bank. They are Anjula Mahaur from Agra and Devesh Kori from Kanpur.
Sudhir Halwsiya has been elevated as vice-president. Halwasiya, a prominent builder from Lucknow, was promoted on Amit Shah's recommendations. Manish Kapoor from Prime Minister Narendra Modi's constituency has been made co-treasurer, while Sunil Rai has been elevated to the post of secretary.
Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh's son Pankaj Singh and former Union minister Kalraj Mishra close confidante Vijay Bahadur Pathak, Ashok Kataria, Salil Bishnoi and Vidhya Sonkar have been retained as general secretaries in the new team.
Subhash Yadav has been made the new BJP Yuva Morcha president to woo Yadavs from Akhilesh Yadav's Samajwadi Party. Darshana Singh from Rajnath's hometown Chandauli has been elevated as BJP Mahila Morcha president.
They are back
- Two controversial leaders, who were earlier removed, have been brought back by the BJP.
- Daya Shanker Singh, who was sacked for derogatory words against Mayawati, is back as vice-president
- Sanjeev Baliyan, who was dropped from the Modi Cabinet, returns as state vice-president.
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
 "Yogi Adityanath")
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}