New Delhi: The BJP has elected Uttar Pradesh Panchayati Raj Minister Bhupendra Chaudhary as the new chief of its state unit in place of Swatantra Dev Singh, who completed his term last month.
Choudhary, who hails from Moradabad in western UP, is the first Jat president of the BJP in the state. He was chosen to pacify the influential Jat community, who have been angry with the party ever since the controversial agriculture law, now repealed, was drafted by the BJP-led central government.
A BJP leader told ThePrint, “The purpose of Choudhury’s selection is to send a message to the Jats, who were at the forefront of the farmers’ protest.”
This year’s Uttar Pradesh elections saw Jats moving towards the Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) and the Samajwadi Party (SP).
The BJP leader said, “Although BJP achieved good results in Western UP (which includes Jat belt) due to the split in Muslim votes, RLD won 8 seats and even the SP, to the displeasure of the Jat community. Well done because of it.” ,
Another senior BJP leader told ThePrint that “By choosing Chaudhary from western UP, the BJP has tried to balance regional aspirations.”
Citing the example of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, he said, “There was always a complaint in western UP that leaders from the eastern region have prominence in the BJP.” Deputy CM Keshav Prasad Maurya, who is also from Purvanchal; And the other Deputy CM Brajesh Pathak, who hails from Hardoi in Central UP.
Chaudhary is the fourth representative of the community to be given a leadership role by the BJP – there are others Satish Poonia (Who was made Rajasthan chief in 2019) OP Dhankadi (who is heading the Haryana unit since 2020) and Jagdeep Dhankadi (Who was nominated as the vice-president candidate and successfully contested the election). In both Rajasthan and Haryana, Jats form a major part of the electorate.
A third BJP leader admitted that the 2024 Lok Sabha election was focused on securing a good number of seats in western UP. “Every time, (Union Home Minister) Amit Shah starts his election campaign from western UP as the BJP has to maintain its hold on Jat land,” he said. Western UP has 29 Lok Sabha seats.
Read also: Jats’ anger is not enough for BJP’s defeat in West UP, but RLD, SP get lead
Choudhary ‘Rewarded’
Hailing from a farming family in Moradabad’s Kanth constituency, Choudhary has been a low-profile grassroots leader. He was a junior minister in the first Adityanath government of 2017 and was promoted as a cabinet minister in 2019.
He did his primary and secondary education in Moradabad, and began his political career as a car valet In Vishwa Hindu Parishad. He joined the BJP in 1989 and became a member of the District Action Committee in 1993. From 1996 to 2000, he was the District President of Moradabad.
Chaudhary came to prominence after unsuccessfully contesting against SP patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav from Sambhal in the 1999 Lok Sabha elections.
When Lok Sabha MP Ramapati Ram Tripathi was the state president of the BJP, Choudhary was elected as the regional minister for Western UP and later became the party’s regional president, a position he held till 2017. He became a member of the Legislative Council in 2016.
Choudhary is known for his closeness to Defense Minister Rajnath Singh, who took him under his wing when he himself was the party’s national president.
Tripathi told ThePrint: “Chowdhary has had a spotless political career. He has been BJP’worker’ (Workers) who have risen through the ranks – first as District President, then as Regional President and then as Cabinet Minister. ,
BJP state general secretary Govind Narayan Shukla also made similar remarks. “Chowdhary is not only a grassroots leader, but as the Minister of Panchayati Raj, he has done a significant job of improving cleanliness across the state. He is an organization man and has been rewarded,” Shukla said.
healing touch
BJP leaders are hopeful that Choudhary will heal the wounds of Jats isolated during the farmers’ protests of 2020-2021, and bridge the party’s communication gap with the community not only in western UP but also in Haryana and Rajasthan .
Union minister Amit Shah had earlier tried to quell the anger of Jats ahead of the state elections, when Choudhary was given the charge of addressing grievances in western UP and was also made a star campaigner. He was also the BJP’s co-in-charge in Haryana and recently ensured the party’s victory in the Rampur by-election.
Tripathi pointed out that not only is “Chowdhary the first Jat to become the President of UP but also the first from western UP to do so”.
Another BJP leader said the Jat belt was once a stronghold of Chaudhary Charan Singh (Lok Dal, now of RLD), but the BJP broke the party’s hold after the Muzaffarnagar riots ahead of the 2014 Lok Sabha elections.
“The BJP maintained its grip in the 2017 UP election but was hit by the SP-BSP alliance and Jat’s opposition to the sugarcane price in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, when the BSP won. 10 seats, many from western UP,” he said. “In this year’s UP elections, the BJP faced defeat in about 20 seats in western UP due to farmers’ agitation. That’s why the party now wants to fill the wounds of the Jats.
For decades, the BJP has invested heavily in Brahmin leadership in Uttar Pradesh, appointing state presidents such as Madhav Tripathi, Kalraj Mishra, Ramapati Ram, Laxmikant Vajpayee and Mahendra Nath Pandey. It then focused on leaders of backward castes like Kalyan Singh, Vinay Katiyar, Keshav Maurya and Swatantra Dev Singh.
But now, a party leader said, “the party has decided to invest in Jat leadership in several states.” “Sanjeev Balyan is the only leader of the Jat community in western UP and had to face their anger during the farmers’ protest,” the leader said.
(Edited by Nida Fatima Siddiqui)
Read also: To woo Jat farmer leaders like Tikait, attack on RLD: BJP’s two-pronged strategy for western UP