Pankaj Chaudhary Appointed UP BJP President: 5 Reasons For His Elevation

Union Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary was unanimously elected president of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s Uttar Pradesh unit, a decision announced by Union Minister Piyush Goyal amid loud applause at the party headquarters in Lucknow.

Union Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary was unanimously elected president of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s Uttar Pradesh unit, a decision announced by Union Minister Piyush Goyal amid loud applause at the party headquarters in Lucknow.

Non-Yadav OBC Focus

With Yadavs seen as the Samajwadi Party’s core vote bank, the BJP is targeting non-Yadav OBCs. Kurmis, who make up about 7–8% of the population and influence seats in Awadh, Bundelkhand and Purvanchal, are central to this strategy.

Kurmi Leadership Push

By appointing Pankaj Chaudhary as state president, the BJP is reinforcing its outreach to Kurmi voters. He becomes the fourth Kurmi leader to hold the post, after Om Prakash Singh, Vinay Katiyar and Swatantra Dev Singh.

Counter to SP’s PDA Strategy

The Samajwadi Party has persistently pushed the PDA (Backwards, Dalit, Minority) narrative and reaped gains from it. In the last general elections, the SP won 37 seats on its own, while the BJP was limited to 33. There were also reports that Kurmi voters had shifted from the BJP to the SP.

BJP Bets On Its Own Kurmi Face

Although Anupriya Patel and Ashish Patel of Apna Dal are part of the NDA alliance and the government, the BJP aims to build its own leadership from the Kurmi community. By appointing Pankaj Chaudhary as state president, the party is positioning him as its key Kurmi face.

Third President from Gorakhpur

Pankaj will become the third leader from the Gorakhpur division. Earlier, Ramapati Ram Tripathi, who served as the MP from Deoria between 2007 and May 2010, held the post of state president. Cabinet minister Surya Pratap Shahi later served in the role from May 2010 to April 2012.