BJP’s 8 UP picks point to 2027 poll strategy

The BJP has given Uttar Pradesh the biggest representation in its new national organisational team, appointing eight leaders to key positions ahead of the 2027 Assembly election.

The new UP contingent includes two women and two Muslims, along with leaders representing OBCs and different parts of the state. The appointments comprise two national vice presidents, two general secretaries, two secretaries and the chiefs of the BJP’s OBC and Minority Morchas.

Former Union minister Smriti Irani and former Lok Sabha MP Harish Dwivedi have been appointed national general secretaries. Former MP Rekha Verma and Tariq Mansoor have been made national vice-presidents.

Rajya Sabha members Bhola Singh and Sangeeta Yadav have been appointed national secretaries. Rajya Sabha member Amarpal Maurya will head the OBC Morcha, while Kunwar Basit Ali will head the Minority Morcha.

Irani is the most prominent political face among the UP-linked appointments. She represented Amethi in the Lok Sabha and defeated Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in 2019 before losing the seat in 2024.

Her return to a key organisational position brings a known campaigner with substantial experience of UP politics into the party’s central structure.

Verma, a two-term former MP from Dhaurahra, has direct electoral experience, having won in 2014 and 2019, though she narrowly lost in 2024. Her elevation gives the BJP another woman leader familiar with the electoral dynamics of central UP.

Mansoor, a professor and former vice-chancellor of Aligarh Muslim University, brings a different political profile.

A prominent Muslim figure associated with western UP, Mansoor has been seen as part of the BJP’s efforts to reach sections of the Muslim community, particularly its Pasmanda section. His elevation to national vice-president gives that outreach a higher organisational profile.

Dwivedi, a two-term former MP from Basti, brings parliamentary and organisational experience from eastern UP. He won the seat in 2014 and 2019 before losing it in 2024.

Bhola Singh, a three-term Dalit MP from Bulandshahr, represents another electorally tested face from western UP.

Sangeeta Yadav, a Rajya Sabha member and former MLA from Chauri-Chaura in Gorakhpur, adds another woman leader with electoral experience from eastern UP to the national organisation.

OBC and Muslim outreach in focus

Maurya’s appointment as OBC Morcha president is particularly relevant to the BJP’s social mobilisation strategy. A Rajya Sabha member and former BJP state general secretary, he contested the 2022 Assembly election from Unchahar in Rae Bareli district and has substantial organisational experience.

Ali, who has headed the BJP’s Minority Morcha in UP, has been active in the party’s outreach to Muslim voters, particularly in western UP. His appointment as national Minority Morcha president gives that effort a national organisational platform.

The eight appointments collectively cover several strands of the BJP’s political strategy in UP – women, OBCs, Muslims, eastern and western regions, and leaders with both electoral and organisational experience.

The timing is significant. The BJP suffered notable setbacks in the 2024 Lok Sabha election in UP, with several of the newly elevated leaders, including Irani, Verma and Dwivedi, getting a drubbing.

The composition of the UP contingent suggests an effort to put politically experienced and socially diverse faces in positions that could help strengthen the organisation and outreach ahead of the state contest.

The relatively young age of the appointees, except Mansoor, also hints at the BJP’s focus on youth and Gen Z outreach.

Two UP Muslim leaders get national roles

Javed Malik, BJP West UP chief, told PTI that Basit was only the third BJP leader from the minority community to have been tasked with national responsibilities of the minority wing, the previous two being Aizaz Rizvi and Tanveer Usmani.

“There are two minority leaders from UP to have found a place in the national team. Apart from Basit, Tariq Mansoor, named national vice president, is from the Pasmanda community,” Malik said.

BJP state president and Union Minister of State for Finance, Pankaj Chaudhary, and State General Secretary (Organization) Dharmpal Singh, extended their wishes to the newly appointed national office-bearers of the party.

Meanwhile, UP BJP state media in-charge Yatendra Sharma met party national general secretary (organisation) B L Santosh after taking charge of his post on Monday.

The two discussed strengthening the organisation, improving media coordination and communicating the party’s policies and programmes to the public, according to a statement.