Bhattacharya to lead BJP in Bengal, Khandelwal in MP

Betul MLA Hemant Khandelwal was unanimously elected president of Madhya Pradesh BJP, replacing VD Sharma, who had been in the post from 2020.

The election took place in Bhopal on Wednesday, in the presence of BJP poll observer for Madhya Pradesh Dharmendra Pradhan.

Khandelwal has deep roots in the RSS, which has the largest organisational presence in Madhya Pradesh. Hemant Khandelwal's father Vijay Kumar Khandelwal was a four-term Lok Sabha member from Betul. It was after his father's death in 2007 that Hemant Khandelwal contested from Betul in a by-election and became a Lok Sabha MP for the first time.

He has also served as the Betul BJP district president and was first elected as Betul MLA in 2013. He was re-elected from the same seat in 2023.

Rajya Sabha MP Samik Bhattacharya was the sole candidate to file a nomination for the elections to the post of West Bengal BJP chief and is set to take over as the BJP's state unit.

Accompanied by outgoing state president Sukanta Majumdar and LoP in the Assembly Suvendu Adhikari, Bhattacharya submitted nomination papers at the party's office in Salt Lake in the afternoon.

Now, the BJP has crossed the constitutional requirement of election of new presidents in more than half its 37 organisational units before a national president can be elected. So far the BJP has completed elections in 21 units.