MoS Pankaj Chaudhary likely to be new UP BJP chief; CM, nine other leaders propose his name
LUCKNOW: The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is set to get its party chief for the Uttar Pradesh unit on Sunday. The nomination process for the election of the new state chief took place at the BJP headquarters in the state capital here on Saturday afternoon, with Union Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary leading the race. Chaudhary filed his papers, and his name was proposed by 10 senior BJP leaders, including UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. According to sources, Chaudhary is almost certain to get elected unopposed, as no other leader has filed nomination papers. However, a day ahead of the nomination process, BJP national general secretary (organisation) BL Santhosh arrived in Lucknow and met Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. An organisational meeting was also held at CMs residence on Friday night. Amid intense political activity, Union Minister Piyush Goel, appointed as the election officer by the party, arrived in Lucknow on Saturday along with central election observer Vinod Tawde, and Pankaj Chaudhary who is believed to be a close aide of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah. While Pankaj Chaudhary was being considered as the front-runner for the post of UP BJP chief, the arrival of former Union Minister Sadhvi Nirajan Jyoti at the party office on Saturday morning added to the buzz of voting, as she is also being considered as a candidate. Moreover, the name of Union Minister BL Verma had also been doing the rounds for the post. The party chief was supposed to be elected in January 2025, but was delayed due to assembly elections in Maharashtra and Bihar. According to party leaders, Piyush Goyal will complete the election process on Sunday. BJP sources said that the party had zeroed in on an OBC face in Pankaj Chaudhary to lead the state. Chaudhary, a seven-time BJP MP from the Maharajganj Lok Sabha constituency of eastern Uttar Pradesh, is regarded as one of the party's cadre. He started his political career in Gorakhpur Municipal Corporation. In 2024, he defeated Congress candidate Virendra Chaudhary by a margin of over 35,000 votes to enter the Union Cabinet. A prominent OBC Kurmi leader, Chaudhury filed his nomination on Saturday in the presence of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, Deputy Chief Ministers Keshav Prasad Maurya and Brajesh Pathak, along with several senior party leaders and central representatives. Hailing from Gorakhpur, Chaudhary is being seen as a choice by the party to counter the oppositions PDA (Pichhda, Dalit, Alpsankhyak) narrative, while also consolidating OBC support ahead of the panchayat elections next year and the 2027 Assembly polls. Chaudhury has been a member of the Union Cabinet since 2021. If elected as the Uttar Pradesh BJP president, he would become the fourth Kurmi leader to head the party in the state, following Swatantra Dev Singh, Vinay Katiyar, and Om Prakash Singh. He is set to replace Bhupendra Singh Chaudhary, a Jat leader from Moradabad.
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