Rupani is BJP’s LS poll hand in Punjab, Chandigarh; Biplab in Haryana

Tribune News Service

Aditi Tandon

New Delhi, January 27

The ruling BJP on Saturday appointed Lok Sabha election in-charges for 23 states and UTs appointing former MP and party’s national vice-president Baijayanta Jay Panda the sole in-charge in Uttar Pradesh, which returns the highest number (80) of MPs to the Lok Sabha.

Former Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani will handle Chandigarh and Punjab. In Punjab, he will be assisted by party’s national secretary Narinder Singh as co in-charge.

Former Tripura CM Biplab Kumar Deb, who is currently BJP in-charge in Haryana, has also been given LS charge in the state along with Surendra Nagar, BJP national secretary, as co in-charge.

In Himachal, former Uttar Pradesh minister and current MLA Srikant Sharma, has made a significant comeback to the BJP’s central team. Sharma, who was the BJP national media chief in 2014 when PM Narendra Modi won the first Lok Sabha election, will be LS in-charge for Himachal along with current state co-in-charge Sanjay Tandon.

BJP general secretary Tarun Chugh, party’s present in charge of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, will handle both states for General Election strategy purposes.

In J&K, Chugh will be assisted by Delhi BJP leader Ashish Sood, currently party co in-charge in the UT.

BJP general secretary Vinod Tawde, often seen in major party’s national strategy meetings, will handle Bihar LS plans, while another general secretary, Dushyant Gautam, has been given the parliament election charge in Uttarakhand.

Bihar MLC and former state minister Mangal Pandey will handle the key role of West Bengal LS in-charge along with party’s IT chief Amit Malviya and BJP secretary and former Ranchi mayor Asha Lakra.

Odisha charge has gone to party’s Rajya Sabha MP from UP Vijaypal Tomar and BJP national vice-president Lata Usendi, who was recently elected to the Chhattisgarh Assembly.

The in-charges will work with the BJP’s goal of clocking over 50 per cent of the Lok Sabha seats in the upcoming General Election — a feat no party has so far achieved in a national election, not even the Congress at its 1984 peak when it bagged 414 seats, the highest any party has ever won in India’s electoral history. The Congress had then bagged 48.1 per cent votes.

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