Keeping caste equations in mind, the BJP brass on Tuesday appointed UP Transport Minister Swatrantra Deo Singh as the new chief of the state BJP unit. An announcement to this effect was made by BJP national general secretary Arun Singh.
Singh, who belongs to Backward Caste, made the rugged Bundelkhand his political ‘karmabhoomi’. He is a legislator in Upper House and has been party’s general secretary for two terms.
In a statement issued on Tuesday, Arun Singh said BJP president Amit Shah appointed Swatantra Deo Singh as the new chief of BJP’s UP unit and he had to take the charge immediately.
Singh replaced Dr Mahendra Nath Pandey, who has been made Union minister after he won Lok Sabha election from Chandauli. Pandey had replaced Keshav Prasad Maurya after the latter’s appointment as Deputy Chief Minister. Then too, Pandey was a minister in the Modi government.
The new state BJP chief is said to be an organisation man and is a native of Mirzapur but he made Orai in Bundelkhand his proverbial ‘karmabhoomi’. He studied there and started his political career as a ABVP member from DV Degree College in Orai.
Singh belongs to the Kurmi community and has worked extensively in Bundelkhand region. He was the state chief of Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha and was incharge of Madhya Pradesh in the recently-concluded Lok Sabha polls.
Caste is said to have played a decisive role in Singh’s appointment as state BJP president. After Mahendra Nath Pandey was made Union minister, the party brass was looking for a Dalit or backward face to lead the UP unit.
Vidysagar Sonkar, who is a Dalit, and Swatantra Deo Singh were in the race. In the last Lok Sabha election, the party credited its victory to Backward case people despite the grand alliance of Samajwadi Party and Bahujan Samaj Party.
Besides, Backwards are likely to play a crucial role in the bypolls and next Assembly elections. Singh is expected to lead the BJP in the 2022 Assembly elections.
Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, along with all his ministerial colleagues, welcomed the appointment of Singh as the new UP BJP president.
BJP state general secretary Vijay Bahadur Pathak also welcomed the appointment, saying, “The vast experience of Singh will strengthen the party base and his attachment with youths will certainly give us the edge. Besides, the new state president’s organisational skills will strengthen the party at grass-roots level.”
Singh started his career as an RSS worker in 1986 and was the organisational secretary of ABVP from 1988 to 1989. He was appointed as general secretary of BJYM in 2001 and later made its state president. He became a legislator for the first time in 2004.
From 2004 to 2014, he was state BJP general secretary. In 2017, he was made a minister with Independent charge.
