BJP presidents of three politically crucial states of Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra and Bihar were on Thursday inducted in the Union Cabinet as a reward for the party’s good performance in the Lok Sabha elections against the opposition alliance. This is set to trigger a change in the party’s leadership in these three states ahead of Assembly polls.
UP BJP chief Mahendra Nath Pandey, who was re-elected as the Chandauli MP after defeating the SP-BSP alliance candidate Sanjay Chauhan by a narrow margin of 13,959 votes, on Thursday took oath as Cabinet minister. He was earlier inducted as a Union Minister of State in July 2016 but was dropped from the Cabinet in September 2017 ahead of the UP Assembly polls. His term as UP BJP chief was set to expire this year.
BJP won 62 of 80 Lok Sabha seats in UP.
The party’s Bihar chief Nityanand Rai, who won the Lok Sabha election from Ujiarpur after defeating RLSP chief and former NDA ally Upendra Kushwaha, took oath as a Union Minister of State. BJP won all 17 seats it contested in 2019 elections. Bihar is going to Assembly polls in 2020.
BJP’s Maharashtra chief Raosaheb Patil Danve, who was elected as the Jalna MP after defeating the Congress candidate, has also been inducted as Union Minister of State. BJP won 23 of 48 seats in Maharashtra. Maharashtra is going to Assembly polls later this year.