Union Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary named new UP BJP chief

Union Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary was on Sunday named the new president of the BJP's Uttar Pradesh unit, with his election being formally announced by Union Minister Piyush Goyal here.

The announcement was made in the presence of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and Deputy Chief Ministers Keshav Prasad Maurya and Brajesh Pathak.

Chaudhary filed his nomination for the post on Saturday and was the sole candidate in the fray. He submitted the papers to former Union minister and BJP state election officer Mahendra Nath Pandey and central election observer Vinod Tawde.

Adityanath, his two deputies, and Jal Shakti Minister Swatantra Dev Singh were present during the filing of the nomination.

A seven-time Lok Sabha MP from the Maharajganj constituency, Chaudhary belongs to the Kurmi community, categorised under Other Backwards Classes (OBC). He is considered a close confidant of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh.