Swatantradev Singh re-elected Uttar Pradesh BJP chief unopposed; OBC leader credited with BJP's performance in Madhya Pradesh during 2019 LS polls

Lucknow: Prominent OBC leader Swatantradev Singh was elected unopposed the chief of Uttar Pradesh BJP on Friday, the party’s media co-in charge Alok Awasthi said. The announcement about Singh’s election was made by party’s national general secretary Bhupendra Yadav at Uttar Pradesh BJP office, Awasthi told PTI. [caption id=“attachment_7921021” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of Swatantradev Singh. Twitter@ANI[/caption] The 55-year-old Singh, who will have a three-year tenure, was appointed Uttar Pradesh BJP chief in July last year after Mahendra Nath Pandey was re-elected to Lok Sabha and joined the government at the Centre. Belonging to the influential Kurmi caste, Singh made his presence felt during the 2019 Lok Sabha elections as in charge of party affairs in Madhya Pradesh, where the BJP bagged 28 out of the 29 seats. “The task was indeed challenging as the BJP had lost the 2018 MP Assembly elections to the Congress hardly six months back,” Uttar Pradesh BJP leader Rakesh Tripathi said. Singh’s efforts to boost the morale of party workers and ensure a swing in favour of the BJP paid dividends as Congress bigwigs such as Digvijaya Singh and Jyotiraditya Scindia had to taste defeat, Tripathi said. Currently, a member of the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council, Singh joined the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh in 1986 and held various positions in the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad and the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha. He also held various positions in the BJP from 2004 to 2014. Congratulating him, Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath said, “After he took over as the Uttar Pradesh BJP chief, the ruling party has won 9 out of 12 assembly seats in bye-elections.”