Eye On Polls: Bansal Gets 3 States, Moved Out Of UP

| Updated: 11 August, 2022 11:21 am IST

Sunil Bansal, BJP national general secretary in charge of West Bengal, Telangana and Odisha

NEW DELHI: In a crucial appointment in the run-up to the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, Uttar Pradesh Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) general secretary (organisation) Sunil Bansal has been moved to Delhi by party president JP Nadda as national general secretary in charge of West Bengal, Telangana and Odisha.

Jharkhand BJP general secretary (organisation) Dharampal has been appointed the new UP BJP general secretary (organisation). Karamveer, who is joint general secretary (organisation) in Uttar Pradesh, will replace Dharampal in Jharkhand.

Hailing from Rajasthan, Bansal was brought to Uttar Pradesh by the party leadership to help the then state in-charge Amit Shah in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls. The BJP won 71 of the 80 Lok Sabha seats in the state.

Bansal delivered in the 2017 state assembly polls and subsequently in the 2019 and 2022 polls as well. He is credited with strengthening the BJP in the state.

The BJP was confident of getting to power in the 2021 West Bengal assembly polls. But a loss in the elections rattled the party. Now, the party is hoping to make it big in 2024. Telangana and Odisha are also high on the BJP’s priority list.

With a strong ABVP background, Bansal has a deep understanding of the functioning of the party. A media-shy person, Bansal prefers to work in the background away from the glare.

Party sources told The New Indian that after the setback in Bengal last time, the party was not ready to take any risk and wanted to put someone in charge who has a proven track record.

The party is eyeing big gains in Telangana and Odisha. The BJP held its national executive meet in Hyderabad in July this year, where delegates from all over the country participated, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

In Odisha, the party believes there is a political vacuum which could be exploited.

The party also appointed Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya as leader of the House in the Legislative Council. BJP UP president Swatantra Dev Singh, who is also a Cabinet minister in the state, resigned as Legislative Council leader citing his preoccupation with the ministry. He is in charge of the Jal Shakti department in the state.