Union minister Gajendra Shekhawat appointed BJP in-charge for Punjab Assembly polls

Vibha Sharma
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, September 8

BJP president JP Nadda announced poll teams for key states—including Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, and Uttarakhand—going to elections in 2022 on Wednesday, appointing senior ministers and party leaders as in charge and co-in charge.

Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan has been given charge of Uttar Pradesh and Jal Shakti minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat of Punjab. Despite a relatively limited stake in Punjab, Nadda appears to be leaving no stone unturned and has given Shekhawat a strong team of three deputies, including union ministers Hardeep Puri and Meenakshi Lekhi, both with Punjab connections, and Lok Sabha Member of Parliament Vinod Chavda, for the state.

Given the high stakes in Uttar Pradesh, Pradhan’s army of deputies include union ministers Anurag Singh Thakur, Arjun Ram Meghwal, Shobha Karandlaje, and Annapurna Devi, Members of Parliament Saroj Pande and Vivek Thakur, and former Haryana minister Captain Abhimanyu.

Apart from this, Uttar Pradesh has also been divided into six parts for organisational purposes with Lok Sabha member Sanjay Bhatia in charge of western Uttar Pradesh, Bihar MLA Sanjeev Chaurasia in charge of the Brij region, national secretary Y Satya Kumar in charge of Awadh, additional treasurer of the BJP Sudhir Gupta in charge of Kanpur, national secretary Arvind Menon for Gorakhpur and Sunil Ojha (‘sah prabhari’ for UP) in charge of Kashi.

For Uttarakhand, the charge is with Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi and his two deputies, Lok Sabha Member of Parliament Locket Chatterjee and national spokesperson RP Singh. In Manipur, Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav will hold the fort along with union minister Pratima Bhaoumik and Assam minister Ashok Singhal.

Meanwhile, former Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has been made in charge of Goa along with union ministers G Kishan Reddy and Darshana Jardosh.