New Delhi/Bhubaneswar: With Lok Sabha elections fast approaching, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Saturday declared new election in-charges and co-incharges of 23 states.
BJP National Vice President Baijayant Panda was named the election in-charge of Uttar Pradesh, the state with the largest number of parliamentary seats.
With 80 parliamentary seats, the north Indian state of Uttar Pradesh has been playing a pivotal role in determining the fate of political parties in the Lok Sabha polls. Amit Shah was in-charge of Uttar Pradesh for the 2014 polls while JP Nadda was the in-charge for 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
Panda’s role will be critical in shaping the BJP’s future and electoral success in the poll this year.
It is to be mentioned here that on March 8, 2019, he was appointed as the BJP national vice-president and spokesperson, a decision that was made effective immediately and received approval from then-BJP national president Amit Shah.
This appointment underscores Panda’s prominence within the party and his potential influence on its strategies and policies.
His leadership role in Uttar Pradesh is particularly crucial given the state’s importance in national elections and the BJP’s reliance on strategies such as nationalism, Hindu majoritarianism, and leveraging Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s popularity, as observed in past electoral approaches.
Panda’s political career includes serving as a Lok Sabha member from Kendrapada constituency of Odisha, and prior to that, as a member of the Rajya Sabha.
Since joining the BJP, Panda has taken on various responsibilities, including being appointed as Assam’s new in-charge, reflecting his growing stature within the party.
The other states where the party has got new in-charges include Andaman and Nicobar, Arunachal Pradesh, Chandigarh, Daman and Diu, Goa, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu Kashmir, Jarkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Ladakh, Lakshwadeep, Madhya Pradesh, Puducherry, Punjab, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu, Uttarakhand and West Bengal.
BJP National President JP Nadda declared the names.
Vijaypal Singh Tomar, MP, has been named election in-charge of Odisha along with Lata Usendi, MLA in Chhattisgarh, who will be the co-in-charge. Vinod Tawade has been appointed as election in-charge of Bihar.
