In a minor reshuffle, the UP BJP has made some changes in the portfolio of some of its organisational secretaries (sangathan mantris).
UP BJP spokesperson Alok Awasthi said, "UP BJP chief Mahendra Nath Pandey has made changes in the area of work of the various 'sangathan mantris.' Ratnakar who was the organisational secretary of the Kashi region has been given additional charge of the Gorakhpur region. Pradyuman has been made the organisational secretary of the Awadh region."
Similarly, Bhawani Singh who is the organisational secretary of the Braj region has also been given the additional charge of the Kanpur and Bundelkhand regions.
"The party makes changes from time to time and at regular intervals, in order to give pace to various works. From the point of view of elections, various programmes are being drawn up, and to accelerate those programmes, some of the secretaries (organisation) have been spared," Awasthi told PTI.
The organisational changes have been effected close on the heels of the BJP losses of Kairana Lok Sabha seat and Noorpur assembly seat in recent bypolls.
Awasthi, however, denied that the changes have anything to do with the losses in recent bypolls, pointing out that the losses were suffered in Uttar Pradesh western region, while the changes have been effected in the eastern and central regions.
Asked if this organisational revamp can be seen as a fallout of the bypoll losses suffered by the party on Kairana Lok Sabha seat and Noorpur assembly seat, Awasthi said, "Both Kairana and Noorpur come under Paschim kshetra (western UP region). So it would be incorrect to correlate the organisation revamping with bypoll losses in Kairana and Noorpur. It is purely an organisational revamping and nothing else," Awasthi said.
The job of the secretary organisation of the party in a particular region is to primarily concentrate on expansion of the party base in a particular region, the UP BJP spokesperson said.
BJP had suffered a stunning electoral upset on May 31, with the joint opposition candidates posting victories in the bypolls for Kairana Lok Sabha and Noorpur assembly constituencies.
Rashtriya Lok Dal's Tabassum Hasan won the Kairana seat by a margin of 44,618 votes, while Naeemul Hasan of the Samajwadi Party bagged the Noorpur Assembly seat by a margin on 5,662 votes. Both seats were earlier held by the Bharatiya Janata Party.
The opposition victories follow the BJP defeats in the Lok Sabha bye-elections in Gorakhpur and Phulpur in March, and come just a year before the general election.
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