Union Minister Pankaj Choudhury Appointed New UP BJP President in Major OBC Outreach

India Today

In a significant political development, Union Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Choudhury has been appointed as the new President of the BJP's Uttar Pradesh unit. The seven-time MP from Maharajganj filed his nomination on December 13 and was elected unopposed, backed by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and other senior leaders. This move is seen as a strategic outreach to the OBC Kurmi community following the party's performance in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. The appointment aims to consolidate the traditional OBC vote bank ahead of the crucial 2027 Assembly polls.

Transcript

00:00This is BJP. UP unit gets an OBC chief. Modi Mantri Pankaj Chaudhary has been picked for the role.

00:07BJP's big OBC outreach in Yogi's Uttar Pradesh. OBC Kurmi Chaudhary from East Uttar Pradesh,

00:14seven-time MP. BJP faced Kurmi backlash, remember, in the 2024 polls itself. Big outreach to

00:22traditional OBC voters, now small-time cooperator to Uttar Pradesh. BJP top job. This seems to be

00:28quite a crucial development before setting the precedent for the 2027 polls that's to take place

00:36in the very state. But yes, quite a crucial appointment at this given point for the party,

00:43Pankaj Chaudhary, who is now the state unit for the BJP's president at this given point. It's a big

00:50outreach to the traditional OBC voters as he hails from the Kurmi community, the same Kurmi community,

00:55remember, which ended up contributing to the BJP's losses in the 2024 polls and the Kurmi

01:05backlash that we have seen in Uttar Pradesh. This seems to be quite an important move that the BJP

01:10has, in fact, strategized at this given point right ahead of the 2027 state assembly elections

01:16to make, do, in fact, to make better, make amend situations better in the very state at this point.

01:25It's an important key strategy that we see that's coming to the forefront from the BJP state unit.

01:31It's a very

02:01Bharat Mataki, Bharat Mataki, Bandai, Bandai, Bandai, Bandai, Bandai, Uttar Pradesh.

02:13So, viewers, this is what we are witnessing at this given point.

02:17It's a seven-time MP from Maharaj Ganj in eastern Uttar Pradesh who filed his nominations on December 13th.

02:24He was backed by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath himself, Deputy Chief Minister Brajesh Patak and Keshav Prasad Maurya

02:30and other several senior leaders from Uttar Pradesh unit itself, like Smriti Rani herself.

02:36Nominations had opened up amidst speculations of an OBC, Brahmin or the SC candidates,

02:41but the party had come out to unify around Pankaj Chaudhuri's nomination

02:45with his unopposed election announcement that had in fact taken place.

02:50Now, rising from a corporator to a union minister, he previously held the Finance Minister of State role

02:56ahead of the 2022 polls, if we had to just give you a brief of his background.

03:00Now, this move definitely, if one looks at it from a strategy perspective,

03:05the move definitely aims to reclaim the non-Yad of OBC votes,

03:09especially it is the Kurmi community, because he hails from the Kurmi community.

03:13The backlash that they faced in 2024 Lok Sabha elections,

03:16where the BJP's UP seats had fallen from almost 60, around 60 to in the 30s,

03:24some number around 30s, due to the Samajwadi party's strategy at that given point.

03:30So, Eastern Uttar Pradesh is Chaudhuri's stronghold, which is Chaudhuri's stronghold,

03:35and they want to make amends in that very region at this given point.

03:38And this definitely comes in as a big move, as we've been reiterating ahead of the 2027 Assembly polls.

03:46And appointing the OBC chief echoes the 2017 success under Keshav Prasad Maurya as well.

03:52And it also comes in as a counter to the Samajwadi party's OBC outreach so far,

03:58that, in fact, the results of which we had even seen in the recent 2024 Lok Sabha elections,

04:04signalling BJP's electoral arithmetic focus on backward classes.

04:09The

04:38Oh

04:39Oh

04:40Oh

04:42Oh

04:44Oh

04:45Manini Abhupen Chaudhry Ji se

04:47This is Bharti Janta Party ka dhva

04:49Mani Pradhesha Adyachichi Ji ko

04:51Saupenge

04:52Jor-dar Tariyon ke saath

04:54Bolibharat mata ki

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