Pankaj Choudhary has been made the new BJP president of UP, know who is Pankaj Choudhary and why is he being made?

Mayank Trigun, Senior Correspondent

It is almost certain that BJP will get a new chief in UP. Union Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary has filed nomination for the post of chief of Bharatiya Janata Party in Uttar Pradesh. UP CM Yogi was also with him during the filing of nomination. Apart from CM Yogi, Deputy CM Keshav Prasad Maurya has also become a proposer in his nomination. Pankaj Chaudhary is counted among the people close to CM Yogi and Amit Shah. Let us tell you, there was a lot of commotion at the BJP headquarters since morning. Party’s National General Secretary Vinod Tawde and organization election in-charge Mahendra Pandey were also present at the time of nomination. There was tremendous sloganeering before the arrival of Pankaj Chaudhary at the party headquarters. The office was decorated with flowers. All the senior party leaders were present at the party office.

Pankaj Chaudhary is certain to win the election unopposed. Because no one else has filed nomination yet. However, when former Union Minister Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti reached the party office, there was some commotion there. Because he was also considered a strong contender for this post. According to reports, when he was asked about the new president of UP, he said that it will be known after some time.

If Pankaj Choudhary is made the president of UP BJP, he will be the fourth Kurmi leader to get this post. Before this, Swatantra Dev Singh, Vinay Katiyar and Om Prakash Singh have also held this post, who belong to the Kurmi community. If seen, stamping the name of Pankaj Choudhary could be a well-thought-out strategy of BJP. In the year 2024, 11 candidates belonging to the Kurmi community in UP reached the Lok Sabha after winning the elections. Of these, seven MPs were from Samajwadi Party and three from BJP. Now BJP does not want Kurmi votes to be divided through Pankaj Chaudhary. Pankaj Choudhary’s name may be approved to help the Kurmi community.

Who is Pankaj Chaudhary?
Pankaj Choudhary, who belongs to the Kurmi caste of OBC, has been MP from Maharajganj seven times. He started his political journey from the post of councilor. He has also been the Deputy Mayor of CM Yogi’s stronghold Gorakhpur. He reached Parliament for the first time by winning the Lok Sabha elections in 1991. After this he won the elections of 1996, 1998, 2004, 2014, 2019 and 2024. However, he was defeated in the elections of 1999 and 2009. Pankaj Chaudhary is also considered close to PM Modi. He is playing the role of Minister of State for Finance in the Central Government for the second time. Before this, he had also been the Minister of State for Finance in the Central Government in the year 2021. In this way, he has worked with Prime Minister Modi twice.

Who all in the family?
Pankaj Chaudhary’s father Bhagwati Prasad Chaudhary was one of the big landlords of UP. His mother Ujjwala Chaudhary has been the former District Panchayat President of Maharajganj. Wife Bhagyashree Chaudhary is a social worker and has a son and a daughter. Pankaj Chaudhary is also the owner of Ayurvedic oil company ‘Rahat Rooh’.