Union Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary named new UP BJP chief

LUCKNOW: Union Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary was on Sunday named the new president of the BJP's Uttar Pradesh unit, with his election being formally announced by Union Minister Piyush Goyal here.

The announcement was made in the presence of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and deputy chief ministers Keshav Prasad Maurya and Brajesh Pathak.

Chaudhary had filed his nomination for the post on Saturday and was the sole candidate in the fray. He submitted the papers to former Union minister and BJP state election officer Mahendra Nath Pandey and central election observer Vinod Tawde.

Adityanath, his two deputies, and Jal Shakti Minister Swatantra Dev Singh witnessed the filing of the nomination.

Outgoing state BJP chief Bhupendra Chaudhary handed over the party flag to his successor.

Goyal presented Pankaj Chaudhary with his certificate of election. At the programme, Sangathan Parv, Goyal called the BJP the world's largest political organisation, and said the global community is astonished by its disciplined and democratic functioning.

Goyal said that the party election was conducted at 1.62 lakh booths.

"The party's steady growth, carried forward from the vision of Dr Syama Prasad Mookerjee, Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya, and Atal Bihari Vajpayee, and guided today by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP national president JP Nadda, has strengthened the organisation, which is evident from the large gathering at the event," he said.

Goyal also announced the names of the party's newly elected national council members, whose numbers ran up to 120, and included Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Modi represents Varanasi, while Adityanath represents Gorakhpur. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh is from Lucknow, Maurya from Prayagraj, and Pathak from Unnao.

Other members of the national council include Bhupendra Singh Chaudhary (Sambhal), Smriti Irani (Sultanpur), Dr Mahendra Nath Pandey (Varanasi), Surya Pratap Shahi (Salempur), Swatantra Dev Singh (Banda), and Dr Ramapati Ram Tripathi (Gorakhpur).

Pankaj Chaudhary will be the 17th chief of UP BJP, former Union minister Mahendra Nath Pandey said.

A seven-time Lok Sabha MP from the Maharajganj constituency, Pankaj Chaudhary belongs to the Kurmi community, categorised under Other Backwards Classes (OBC). He is considered a close confidant of Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh.

Maurya said the 2027 UP assembly election is the next major challenge for the party and asserted that the BJP would secure an overwhelming victory under Chaudhary's leadership.

Cabinet Minister Dara Singh Chauhan said the party would scale new heights under Chaudhary's leadership, while MSME Minister Rakesh Sachan thanked the BJP's national leadership for the decision.

BJP leader Dinesh Pratap Singh said Pankaj Chaudhary was fully capable of providing strong leadership to the party.