Following the conclusion of the UP Assembly elections in March earlier this year, major political parties in the state are ‘headless’. The state president of the BJP has been inducted into the Yogi Adityanath cabinet while the state presidents of Rashtriya Lok Dal and Congress resigned following the poll drubbing.

The next Lok Sabha elections in 2024 are not far away and the political parties are giving due consideration to caste arithmetic before appointing their respective state presidents.

Current BJP state president Swatantra Dev Singh has been inducted into the council of ministers and the party, for all practical purposes, is headless. As the BJP strictly adheres to the ‘one man, one post’ principle,  a new face is sure to take command of the state organisation soon.

The party’s focus is on managing caste balances for the 2024 elections and it is this factor that will decide the name of the new state chief.

Uttar Pradesh Congress president Ajay Kumar Lallu was asked to resign in March after the party faced its worst-ever debacle in Uttar Pradesh. Party sources claimed that some leaders have been shortlisted to revive the party, but most of them expressed reservations about working under Priyanka Gandhi Vadra’s coterie.

The party has been in a state of inertia in Uttar Pradesh for the past two months and even general secretary incharge Priyanka Gandhi Vadra has kept away from the state.

Rashtriya Lok Dal state president Masood Ahmad had resigned immediately after the announcement of the assembly poll results in March. He levelled serious allegations against the party leadership before leaving. The RLD leadership, since then, has not found a suitable successor to Masood Ahmad and the party also remains headless.

Samajwadi Party, the main opposition party in UP, is also planning a major revamp, if sources are to be believed. SP state president Naresh Uttam Patel is expected to be elevated to the national level and the party wants a younger and more energetic leader to head the state.

The Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party Lohia (PSPL) is also headless at the moment.  PSPL president Shivpal Yadav had dissolved all organisational units a few weeks ago. Last week, he appointed heads of various frontal units but did not name the new state president.