Lucknow: The Bharatiya Janata Party on Sunday appointed Union Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary as its new Uttar Pradesh unit president, bringing to a close months of deliberations over one of the party’s most crucial organisational posts. Chaudhary becomes the 15th president of the BJP in the state and the fourth leader from the Kurmi community to hold the position.
The announcement was made during the party’s “Sangathan Parv” at the BJP state headquarters in Lucknow, where Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and several senior party leaders were present. Chaudhary was the sole candidate to file his nomination on Saturday, making his elevation a certainty even before the formal process was completed.
A seven-time Member of Parliament from Maharajganj in eastern Uttar Pradesh, Chaudhary’s selection reflects a clear strategic shift by the BJP as it prepares for the 2027 assembly elections and the three-tier panchayat polls scheduled for next year. Party sources said several names had been under consideration and forwarded to the central leadership over the past few months, but the leadership ultimately settled on Chaudhary, a prominent OBC face from eastern Uttar Pradesh.
The decision is widely seen as influenced by the BJP’s performance in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, where the party faced setbacks in parts of eastern Uttar Pradesh. In contrast to 2022, when the BJP appointed a Jat leader from western Uttar Pradesh amid farmers’ protests, the party has now turned to a Kurmi leader to strengthen its OBC outreach and consolidate support in the eastern region.
Born into the influential Kurmi community, Chaudhary, 61, began his political journey in local politics. An alumnus of Gorakhpur University, he first won the Gorakhpur Municipal Corporation election in 1989 and later served as deputy mayor. Over the years, he has built a reputation as a formidable electoral politician, defeating several heavyweights including Hari Shankar Tiwari, Virendra Shahi, Akhilesh Singh and Harshvardhan Singh.
Currently serving as minister of state for finance in the Modi government, Chaudhary is considered close to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. This rapport was publicly evident during the centenary celebrations of the Gita Press in Gorakhpur in July 2023, when Modi made an unscheduled visit to Chaudhary’s residence. Due to the narrow lane leading to the house, the prime minister walked nearly 200 metres to reach it, accompanied by Governor Anandiben Patel and Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.
Chaudhary will succeed Bhupendra Singh Chaudhary, a senior Jat leader from western Uttar Pradesh who was appointed state BJP president in August 2022 during the peak of farmers’ protests against the now-repealed central farm laws. With the change in leadership, the BJP is signalling a renewed organisational and electoral focus as it charts its course for upcoming polls in the state.
