BJP switches to poll mode Bhupender appointed poll in-charge of Manipur

New Delhi, Sep 8
As it prepares for Assembly elections slated early next year, the ruling BJP Wed-nesday announced that Education Minister Dhar-mendra Pradhan has been appointed the party’s poll in-charge of Uttar Pradesh while Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi is going to oversee election preparations in Uttarakhand.
Jal Shakti Minister Ga-jendra Shekhawat has been assigned Punjab, where the BJP is under fire over the three contentious farm laws. Environment, Forests and Climate Change Minister Bhupender Yadav is poll in-charge of Manipur.
The BJP is in power in all these poll-bound States except in Punjab, where its oldest ally Shiromani Akali Dal quit the NDA over the farm laws, saying they were not in the interest of farmers.
In Uttar Pradesh, where winning the Assembly is crucial for the BJP for return to power in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, Pradhan will be assisted by Union Ministers Anurag Singh Thakur, Arjun Ram Meghwal, Sobha Karand-laje, Annapoorna Devi, former Haryana State Minister Capt Abhimanyu, senior party leader and Rajya Sabha MP Saroj Pande and Rajya Sabha MP Vivek Thakur.
Lok Sabha MP Locket Chatterjee and party spokesperson R P Singh is co-in-charge for Uttarakhand with Joshi. The BJP has recently changed its chief minister in Uttarakhand — the third one in this assembly term. The appointment of Pushkar Singh Dhami, who has replaced Tirath Singh Rawat who served as CM for just four months, has given fresh hopes of return to power to the state unit, which has been riddled with internal feud and anti-incumbency.
Bhupender Yadav, who had managed the BJP’s campaign and election works in a number of key states like Gujarat and Bihar among others, will be assisted by Union Ministers Pratima Bhaumik and Assam Minister Ashok Singhal.
Shekhawat will get a helping hand from Union Ministers Hardip Puri, Meenakshi Lekhi and Lok Sabha MP Vinod Chawda for managing the election preparations in Punjab. Courtesy
The Indian Express