Lucknow, March 17 (IANS) With the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) announcing the names of district presidents in Uttar Pradesh, the race for the state party president post has intensified.

The incumbent Uttar Pradesh BJP President, Bhupendra Singh Chaudhary, may soon be replaced as the selection process for the new state president is expected to begin soon, according to party sources.

On Sunday, the BJP declared district presidents across 70 of the 98 organisational districts. In a notable shift, the party emphasized social representation. Of the newly appointed district presidents, five are women, and 25 belong to Other Backward Classes (OBC).

The caste composition includes 19 Brahmins, 10 Thakurs, three Kayasthas, two Bhumihars, four Vaishyas, and one Punjabi.

Among the 25 OBC appointees are five Kurmis, four Backward Vaishyas, two each from the Maurya and Lodh communities, and one each from the Yadav, Kashyap, Kushwaha, Pal, Rajbhar, Rastogi, Saini, and P. Vaishya groups.

Six district presidents are from Scheduled Castes (SC), including three from the Pasi community and one each from the Dhobi, Katheria, and Kori communities.

This round of appointments is part of the BJP’s ongoing organisational elections, which began in November. The process commenced with elections for 1,62,459 booth committees in December, followed by elections for 1,918 mandals across the state. District-level nominations took place in January, leading to the current announcements after multi-level reviews.

Elections in 11 districts were delayed due to by-elections and are expected to conclude later this month, finalizing the remaining 28 district presidents.

Notably, the BJP this time did not announce appointments from Lucknow. The names were revealed at district headquarters following extensive local-level preparations.

Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya, and State President Bhupendra Chaudhary congratulated the newly appointed district presidents.

CM Yogi said, “Hearty congratulations to all the newly appointed district and metropolitan presidents of the BJP in Uttar Pradesh! I have full faith that all of you will strengthen the organization further by following the policies and principles of BJP and will contribute to taking forward the campaign of the Prime Minister for good governance in Uttar Pradesh. Best wishes to everyone for a bright tenure!”

–IANS

skp/dpb