Uttar Pradesh, a key Hindi heartland state which goes to polls early next year, was the biggest beneficiary in the BJP’s revamped team announced on Monday under the leadership of party chief Nitin Nabin.
The appointments come months after Nitin Nabin, who is the youngest to helm the party, took over as the BJP chief in December.
Smriti Irani – The feisty BJP leader makes a big comeback in BJP’s core team as the party’s National General Secretary. At one point, Smriti Irani was the Education Minister in the Narendra Modi cabinet. She also served as Union Textile Minister. Now, she is back again in the thick of political action. Rekha Verma – The BJP leader, who was named the national vice president, has served two terms as the Member of Parliament for the Dhaurahra Lok Sabha constituency in Uttar Pradesh. Additionally, she was appointed as the co-in-charge of the Uttarakhand BJP and is considered a very strong leader of the party in the Awadh region. Prof Tariq Mansoor – Named the national vice president of the BJP, he is a former Vice-Chancellor of Aligarh Muslim University and currently a member of the UP Legislative Council. He has also served as a Professor in the Department of Surgery at Aligarh’s Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College. He is one of the party’s prominent intellectual Muslim faces, working to advance the party’s policies regarding the Pasmanda Muslim community and the education sector. Amarpal Maurya – Named the OBC morcha president, he is a Rajya Sabha MP from Uttar Pradesh. The BJP leader has held significant roles, such as State General Secretary, within the Uttar Pradesh BJP organisation. He is counted among the close associates of Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya and holds deep influence within the state’s Maurya-Shakya-Saini community (OBC). Kunwar Basit Ali – A prominent minority leader within the Uttar Pradesh BJP, he has been named the president of Minority Morcha. He has also served as the president of the party’s Minority Morcha in UP. He has now been promoted within the BJP, moving directly from the UP team to the national team.
She proved to be the David who beat the Goliath in Rahul Gandhi in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls in Amethi. Five years later, she met the same fate in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls when Kishori Lal Sharma, a Gandhi family loyalist, beat her in the same constituency. In July last year, she returned to television, reprising her role as Tulsi Virani in the reboot of Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu this Season 2. She lost the 2024 election. She has held the position of National Vice President of the BJP since 2019. Earlier reporting noted: The BJP has announced the appointment of 13 national vice presidents, including Vasundhara Raje Scindia, Tirath Singh Rawat, Ram Madhav, and Baijayant Jay Panda. The appointments, approved by BJP National President Nitin Nabin, also include 16 national secretaries.
Earlier reporting noted: Former Union minister Smriti Irani has made a political comeback as she has been listed as one of the eight national general secretaries.
