Union Minister Pankaj Chaudhary sole candidate in fray for UP BJP chief: Sources

Union Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary on Saturday filed his nomination papers for the post of the Uttar Pradesh BJP chief, and was the only candidate to do so, party sources said.

A party office-bearer confirmed the development and said that this paves the way for him to get elected unopposed.

Chaudhary submitted the papers to former Union minister and BJP state election officer Mahendra Nath Pandey and central election observer Vinod Tawde.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, Deputy Chief Ministers Keshav Prasad Maurya and Brajesh Pathak and Jal Shakti Minister Swatantra Dev Singh were also present for the submission, party sources said.

In a post on X, Chaudhary said, “Upon arriving at the Lucknow airport today, I received a warm welcome from the dedicated party workers. I express my heartfelt gratitude to all the workers for the affection and respect they showed me.”

Pandey said on Friday that the next state president of the party would be announced on Sunday by the central election officer and Union Minister Piyush Goyal.

Political experts say the election of the president in a large state like Uttar Pradesh would be held in view of the upcoming panchayat elections and the 2027 Assembly election, and the candidate with strong regional and caste equations would be chosen.

Chaudhary is a seven-time MP from the Maharajganj parliamentary constituency. A member of the Kurmi caste, categorised as Other Backward Classes (OBC), he is considered a trusted confidante of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh.

The Kurmi community holds significant sway within the OBC community throughout Uttar Pradesh, and in the 2024 Lok Sabha and 2022 Assembly elections, they showed their inclination towards the state’s main opposition party, the Samajwadi Party.

In Uttar Pradesh, BJP has appointed leaders from the Kurmi community as the state president thrice — former MP Vinay Katiyar, former minister Om Prakash Singh and Swatantra Dev Singh.