Here's a look at the BJP’s strike force for 5 Assembly polls in 2022

File image of BJP rally in West Bengal

On September 8, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) announced the teams that will spearhead its charge at elections in five States — Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Manipur and Goa — in 2022. The teams comprise of a number of national leaders, including Union ministers

Union ministers Dharmendra Pradhan, Pralhad Joshi, Gajendra Shekhawat and Bhupender Yadav, who have been made election in-charges, will be assisted by a former chief minister, three other Union ministers, ministers of state and parliamentarians as the party gets ready for these polls. The BJP rules four of the five States.

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Overall, the party has deployed 13 of 78 Union ministers for election management. The teams will also ensure dissidents are appeased and make full use of cadre and resources, apart from overseeing campaign management.

UP: A caste mix

In Uttar Pradesh, the ruling party has appointed one of its prominent Other Backward Class (OBC) faces, Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan, who is from Odisha, as the in-charge for the upcoming assembly polls. This is at a time when Opposition parties are targeting the BJP for its backward caste strategy.

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The new election panel in the crucial State combines an interesting caste mix. Headed by an OBC, it has a Dalit, a Rajput, a Bhumihar, a Brahmin, a Yadav and a Jat.

Pradhan’s team of co-in-charges for UP includes Union minister for information and broadcasting Anurag Thakur, who is a Rajput from Himachal Pradesh; minister of state for parliamentary affairs Arjun Ram Meghwal, a Dalit from Rajasthan; minister of state for agriculture and farmers’ welfare Shobha Karandlaje, a Vokkaliga (upper caste) from Karnataka; minister of state for education Annapurna Devi, a yadav; former BJP national general secretary Saroj Pandey, an upper caste leader; member of parliament Vivek Thakur, a Bhumihar; and former Haryana minister Captain Abhimanyu, who is a Jat.

In 2017, the BJP, along with its allies, won 323 seats in the 403-member UP assembly.

Punjab: Addressing farmers’ ire

In Congress-ruled Punjab, Shekhawat will be assisted by Union minister for urban and housing affairs Hardeep Singh Puri, who had unsuccessfully contested the Lok Sabha poll from Amritsar in 2019; minister of state for external affairs Meenakshi Lekhi, a Punjabi-speaking leader; and member of parliament Vinodbhai Chavda.

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For the BJP, Punjab has assumed greater significance than before because the party will not be in an alliance with the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) for the first time in three decades. Shekhawat, the newly-appointed election in-charge, has been overseeing Punjab affairs for the last two years and was general secretary of the farmers’ wing before becoming a minister. Sources say the BJP expects Shekhawat’s rapport with farmers’ outfits in Punjab to come in handy at a time when a section of the community is unhappy with the Centre’s farm laws.

Other States: Countering anti-incumbency

In Uttarakhand, member of parliament Locket Chatterjee and party spokesperson RP Singh will assist Pralhad Joshi. The ruling party is facing anti-incumbency in the hill State, which has had three chief ministers since it came to power in 2017.

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In Goa, Devendra Fadnavis, a Marathi who is familiar with the State’s politics, will reprise an old role. He will be assisted by Union culture minister G Kishan Reddy and Surat member of parliament Darshana Jardosh.

Over the past few years, the BJP has inducted 10 turncoats from the Congress, strengthening its position in the State, where it has been in power for ten years now. Party allies Goa Forward Party (GFP) and Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP) have walked out. The BJP also faces other challenges, including anger over its handling of the COVID-19 pandemic in Goa.

Also, read: Congress to prepare plan for nationwide agitations to take on BJP govt ahead of Lok Sabha polls: Sources

In Manipur, the BJP has appointed prominent OBC face and Union minister for environment Bhupender Yadav as the election in-charge. Yadav has been tasked with rebuilding the party amid the buzz that many of its legislators are in touch with the Congress.