For Uttar Pradesh, the BJP has appointed Vinod Tawde as state incharge, with Jagdish Ishwarbhai Patel serving as co-incharge. In Punjab, Satish Poonia has been appointed as the party’s state incharge.
With the assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, and Gujarat next year, the BJP on Tuesday appointed new state election incharges as part of the party's larger reshuffle. BJP national president Nitin Nabin announced the new appointments for Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, and Gujarat as part of the party's organisational changes.
For Uttar Pradesh, Vinod Tawde has been appointed as the BJP's state incharge, while Jagdish Ishwarbhai Patel has been named co-incharge. In Punjab, Satish Poonia has been appointed as the party's state incharge. Tarun Chugh has been appointed as the BJP's state incharge for Gujarat.
The appointments are part of the BJP's efforts to strengthen its organisational structure and coordinate party activities in the three states.
Assembly elections in 2027
Several states are scheduled to go to Assembly polls in 2027, making it an important year for state-level politics. The elections are expected to be held in Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Gujarat, Uttarakhand, Goa, Manipur, and Himachal Pradesh.
Uttar Pradesh, with 403 Assembly seats, will be one of the most closely watched contests. Punjab has 117 Assembly seats, while Gujarat has 182 seats. Elections are also due in Uttarakhand (70 seats), Goa (40 seats), Manipur (60 seats), and Himachal Pradesh (68 seats).
The elections will be spread across the year, with polls in states such as Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Goa, and Manipur expected early in 2027, while Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh are expected to vote later in the year, subject to the Election Commission's schedule.
BJP's national team reshuffle
As part of the broader rejig, the BJP on Monday announced an overhaul of its national organisation under party president Nitin Nabin, bringing in several new faces and prominent leaders. Former Union minister Smriti Irani has been appointed national general secretary, while former RSS functionary Ram Madhav has been named a vice-president.
The party said the new team strikes a balance between youth and experience. Among the veterans retained is former Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje Scindia, who has been appointed one of the party's 13 vice-presidents.
Of the 65 office-bearers announced in the expanded team, 51 are new faces, including 12 women and six leaders from minority communities.
Union Minister Piyush Goyal has been appointed national treasurer, a position he previously held before joining Prime Minister Narendra Modi's first Cabinet in May 2014. The BJP has also retained BL Santhosh as National General Secretary (Organisation), one of the party's key organisational posts.
The reshuffle also saw changes in the party's youth and IT wings. Amit Malviya has been replaced as the head of the BJP’s IT department by Deepak Mhaskey of Chhattisgarh. Hemang Joshi of Gujarat has been appointed president of the BJP Yuva Morcha, replacing Lok Sabha MP Tejasvi Surya.
The organisational overhaul comes more than a decade after the BJP’s last major reshuffle of this scale in 2015 under then party president Amit Shah. The changes have also triggered speculation about a possible Cabinet reshuffle at the Centre.
