Who Will Be UP BJP President? Here are The Potential Candidates
UP BJP Presidency Election Looms as Party Awaits State Council Announcement
The election of the new Uttar Pradesh Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president is poised to occur by late March or early April, with party leaders indicating that the process hinges on the announcement of state council members.
As speculation swirls around potential candidates, caste dynamics—central to UP’s political landscape—are expected to play a pivotal role in the selection, with the Lodh community emerging as a focal point amid the Samajwadi Party’s PDA (backward, Dalit, minority) push.
Party insiders suggest the BJP may lean toward an Other Backward Classes (OBC) leader to counter opposition narratives. The late Kalyan Singh, a revered OBC figure from the Lodh caste, fuels speculation that UP Minister Dharampal Singh or Union Minister of State BL Verma—both Lodhs—could be frontrunners. “The Lodh caste has a strong likelihood,” a veteran BJP member noted, though no name is certain.
Alternatively, if a Brahmin is chosen, Legislative Council member Govind Narayan Shukla and former Basti MP Harish Dwivedi are in contention, alongside other Brahmin hopefuls. For a Dalit candidate, former MLC Vidyasagar Sonkar stands out.
The election process, overseen by Union Minister Piyush Goyal, requires state council members—yet to be fully announced—to vote. Former UP BJP president Dr. Mahendra Nath Pandey, the central election officer, has completed district president elections in 70 of 98 organizational districts, with 28 still pending. Of the appointed presidents, 39 hail from upper castes, including 20 Brahmins, reflecting caste considerations.
Pandey told PTI that state councils for these 70 districts are formed, with lists due soon. The council, comprising 403 assembly-wise members plus select parliamentarians and legislators, is critical to the presidency vote.
Current president Bhupendra Singh Chaudhary, a Jat OBC appointed in 2022, bolstered BJP’s western UP strategy, aiding the 2024 alliance with Jat leader Jayant Chaudhary’s Rashtriya Lok Dal.
As the party finalizes its organizational steps, all eyes are on how caste and strategy will shape its next UP chief.
