Lucknow: Union minister of state for finance Pankaj Chaudhary was appointed as the next president of the BJP in Uttar Pradesh on Sunday. He became the 15th president of the saffron party and fourth Kurmi leader to lead the party in the state.
His appointment has ended months of speculation over the crucial organisational post.
Chaudhary is set to succeed Bhupendra Singh Chaudhary, a senior Jat leader from western Uttar Pradesh, who was appointed state BJP president in August 2022 amid farmers’ protests in the region against the Centre’s now-repealed farm laws.
On Saturday, Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath, along with senior BJP leaders, attended Chaudhary’s nomination ceremony held during the party’s “Sangathan Parv” at the BJP state headquarters in Lucknow, as reported by Hindustan Times.
Chaudhary was the only candidate to file his nomination, making his elevation a foregone conclusion, even as formal procedures were completed today.
There were several names under consideration for months that were shortlisted by the state leadership and forwarded to the party’s central leadership. They w
ere eventually ruled out, with the BJP zeroing in on Chaudhary, a seven-time MP from Maharajganj and a prominent OBC leader from eastern Uttar Pradesh.
Chaudhary, 61, belongs to the influential Kurmi community, one of the most dominant Other Backward Class (OBC) groups in the state. The BJP’s leadership calculus appears to have shifted since 2022, when the party chose a Jat leader from western Uttar Pradesh amid the farmers’ agitation. This time, the decision is seen as being shaped by the party’s electoral setback in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, particularly in eastern part of the state. The decision was also governed by concerns over the road ahead to the assembly elections scheduled for early 2027 as well as the three-tier panchayat polls due in the middle of next year.
The party seems to have turned to an OBC Kurmi leader from eastern Uttar Pradesh in this backdrop.
Chaudhary is an alumnus of Gorakhpur University and began his public life in local politics, winning the Gorakhpur Municipal Corporation election in 1989 and later becoming deputy mayor. During his political career, he defeated leaders such as Hari Shankar Tiwari, Virendra Shahi, Akhilesh Singh and Harshvardhan Singh.
He is considered close to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. This was evident during the centenary celebrations of the Gita Press in Gorakhpur on July 7, 2023, when Modi, without a prior schedule, visited Chaudhary’s residence. The PM had then left his vehicle and walked 200 metres to Chaudhary’s residence along a narrow lane.