Lucknow, Aug. 17 -- Uttar Pradesh has secured a sizeable presence in BJP president Nitin Nabin's new national team, with eight leaders from the state finding places in key organisational positions, including two national vice presidents, two general secretaries, two national secretaries and the presidents of the party's OBC and Minority Morchas.

The composition gives Uttar Pradesh representation across several layers of the BJP's national organisation. More significantly, the party has retained its focus on social and community outreach by handing the national presidentship of both the OBC Morcha and Minority Morcha to leaders from the state.

Senior party leader Amar Pal Maurya has been appointed national president of the OBC Morcha, while Kunwar Basit Ali, who was state chief of Minority Morcha, has been made national president of the Minority Morcha.

The other prominent UP faces in the new team include former Union minister Smriti Irani and former MP Harish Dwivedi, both of whom have been appointed national general secretaries.

Irani, who represented Amethi in the Lok Sabha from 2019 to 2024, had emerged as one of the BJP's most prominent national leaders during her tenure as a Union minister. Her appointment as national general secretary gives her a direct organisational role at a time when the BJP is preparing for another round of electoral battles in the politically crucial Hindi heartland.

Harish Dwivedi, a former BJP MP from Basti, has also been elevated to the post of national general secretary.

The state has also got two national vice presidents in Rekha Verma and Tariq Mansoor. Verma, a former BJP MP from Dhaurahra, has been retained in a senior national organisational role. Mansoor, former vice chancellor of Aligarh Muslim University and a member of the BJP's national leadership, has also been appointed national vice president.

Mansoor's appointment assumes importance in the context of the BJP's continuing efforts to expand its outreach among Muslims.

His presence in the national team, alongside Basit Ali's appointment as Minority Morcha president, gives UP two senior organisational faces associated with the party's minority outreach.

Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.