• Source:JND

The much-anticipated election for the BJP state president in Uttar Pradesh will be held on Saturday and Sunday. The voter list for the election was released on Friday. It includes a total of 464 voters, including five MPs, 26 MLAs, eight MLCs, and 425 provincial council members and district presidents. The nominations will be filed on Saturday under the supervision of the party's national general secretary and central election observer, Vinod Tawde.

With the nomination, the picture of the state president will also become clear. The 17th state president of the state unit will be announced on Sunday, December 14.

Meanwhile, the party's National General Secretary (Organisation), BL Santosh, made a surprise visit to Lucknow on Friday. He held a meeting with top organisation leaders and met Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.

Detailed program of state president election released

State organisation election officer and former Union Minister Dr Mahendra Nath Pandey released the detailed schedule for the state president election on Friday. He stated that nomination papers will be filed on Saturday, December 13, from 2 to 3 pm. Subsequently, the nominations will be scrutinised from 3 pm to 4 pm.

Nomination papers can be withdrawn from 4 to 5 pm. This entire program will be held at the BJP state headquarters. The voting will be held on Sunday, December 14. Central Election Officer and Union Minister Piyush Goyal will announce the state president on December 14.

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The election will be held on Sunday in Dr Ambedkar Auditorium, located on the Dr Ram Manohar Lohia National Law University campus. Before this, on Friday, State General Secretary (Organisation) Dharampal Singh reviewed the preparations for the state president election at the state office.

He has clarified that the entire process will be completed in a time-bound manner as per the party constitution and instructions.

Who all are in race?

Ahead of next year's Panchayat elections and the 2027 Assembly elections, the BJP may bet on an OBC candidate in Uttar Pradesh. This is being seen within the party as a counter to the opposition's PDA (Backward, Dalit, Minority) formula. Among the prominent contenders for the state president's post is Maharajganj MP and Union Minister of State for Finance, Pankaj Chaudhary.

Chaudhary, who belongs to the Kurmi community, is a seven-time MP and a resident of Gorakhpur. It's worth noting that Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath also hails from this region.

Union Minister BL Verma's name is also being discussed. He is a Rajya Sabha member and belongs to the Lodh community.

Rajya Sabha member Baburam Nishad, Animal Husbandry Minister Dharampal Singh, State General Secretary Amar Pal Maurya, and Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti are also being considered.

Among Dalit candidates, Vinod Sonkar, Vidya Sagar Sonkar, and Jugal Kishore are being considered.

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Both Deputy Chief Ministers got the responsibility 

On Friday evening, the National General Secretary of the Organisation held a meeting with both Deputy Chief Ministers, Keshav Prasad Maurya and Brajesh Pathak, along with State President Bhupendra Singh Chaudhary and Dharampal Singh, and other top leaders. Both Deputy Chief Ministers have been assigned responsibility for the elections. Keshav Prasad Maurya and State General Secretary Sanjay Rai have been entrusted with the responsibility of making arrangements for the nominations on Saturday.

State General Secretary Govind Narayan Shukla has been given the responsibility for Sunday's event along with Brajesh Pathak. Central officials, state officials, MPs, MLAs, mayors, district panchayat presidents, district presidents, and even divisional presidents have been invited. Around 3,500 officials are expected to attend.


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