In preparation for the 2024 Lok Sabha election, the BJP’s Uttar Pradesh president, Bhupendra Singh Chaudhary, has unveiled a list of 98 district presidents, resulting in changes in 71 percent of the district units.

Within the party’s six regions, the BJP has made adjustments to 17 district presidents in western UP, 13 in the Kanpur region, and 10 each in the Braj, Kashi, and Awadh regions, along with nine in the Gorakhpur region.

Notably, key districts like Varanasi and Gorakhpur have retained their mahanagar (city) and zila (district) presidents.

In Varanasi, where Prime Minister Narendra Modi represents the Lok Sabha constituency, Vidyasagar Rai remains the mahanagar president, while Hansraj Vishwakarma continues as the zila unit president.

Similarly, in Gorakhpur, Rajesh Gupta retains the mahanagar president position, and Yudhishthir Singh remains the zila unit president.

Changes have been particularly significant in western UP, with 17 out of 19 district units receiving new presidents. Ghaziabad mahanagar and Saharanpur zila are the exceptions where the incumbents were retained.

Notably, the BJP lost many seats to Mahagathbandhan in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections (as compared to 2014) in western Uttar Pradesh. These changes might be intended to win those seats back.

In Mau district, where the BJP recently lost the Ghosi Assembly by-election, the district president has been changed. Nupur Agarwal has been appointed as the new district president, replacing Praveen Gupta.

The appointment of district presidents had been awaited for the past six months, during which the party dispatched observers to each district to finalize the selections.