BJP announces poll managers; Dharmendra Pradhan for U.P., Gajendra Singh Shekhawat for Punjab

Five States go to the polls early next year

The BJP announced a slew of organisational appointments for the five States going to the polls early next year. Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan has been put in charge of elections in Uttar Pradesh along with Union Ministers Shobha Karandalaje, Arjun Meghwal, Annapurna Devi and Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur as co-in charges as well as Saroj Pande, Captain Abhimanyu as part of the team. Mr. Pradhan has overseen important polls in the past, including having held charge of States like Madhya Pradesh, Bihar and Karnataka in Assembly polls. U.P. has also been divided into six parts for organisational purposes, with Lok Sabha member Sanjay Bhatia in charge of western U.P., 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 U.P.) in charge of Kashi. Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat has been given charge of Punjab along with Union Ministers Hardeep Singh Puri and Meenakshi Lekhi and Lok Sabha member Vinod Chavda.