BJP picks in-charges for four poll-bound states

NEW DELHI: Just about a fortnight has barely passed since the Lok Sabha election results and the new NDA government assumed office for the third time in a row, the BJP has already stepped up preparations for the Assembly polls scheduled for later this year, and on Monday, the party named its in-charges for Maharashtra, Haryana, Jharkhand, and Jammu and Kashmir.

In Maharashtra, home to India’s financial capital Mumbai, the BJP fared below expectations in the recently concluded Lok Sabha polls. It has chosen two Union ministers as in-charges of this important state.

Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav has been appointed the in-charge, while Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw will be the co-in-charge.

Another Union minister, Dharmendra Pradhan, has been handed charge of Haryana, and he will be assisted by former Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb.

In Jharkhand, former Madhya Pradesh chief minister and newly appointed Union Agriculture minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan will be the in-charge, assisted by Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma.

The preparations for the Assembly polls in Jammu and Kashmir will be handled by Union Coal and Mines minister G Kishan Reddy.

In Maharashtra, the BJP will contest the Assembly elections with an entirely new coalition comprising the Eknath Shinde faction of the Shiv Sena and the Ajit Pawar-led NCP. They will be pitted against the Congress-Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray)-NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar) coalition.

Bhupender Yadav and Ashwini Vaishnaw were in charge of the Madhya Pradesh Assembly polls last year, where the BJP scored an impressive victory, winning 163 of 230 seats, overcoming anti-incumbency charges.

In Haryana, the BJP changed its chief minister just before the Lok Sabha polls but lost half the total 10 seats. The party has now picked Dharmendra Pradhan and Biplab Kumar Deb to return to power in the state for a third consecutive term.

The latest appointments of party in-charges for the states were made by party president JP Nadda. While Assembly polls in Maharashtra, Haryana, and Jharkhand are due later this year, the Supreme Court has directed the Election Commission to hold the elections in Jammu and Kashmir by September.