BJP appoints Bhupender Yadav as incharge for Maharashtra polls

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) announced on Monday the appointment of Union Ministers Bhupender Yadav and Shivraj Singh Chouhan as the election in-charges for the forthcoming Assembly elections in Maharashtra and Jharkhand, respectively. Bhupender Yadav, who is the Union Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, will have Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw as his co-in charge in Maharashtra. Meanwhile, Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan will be supported by Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma as the election co-in charge in Jharkhand.

The party also appointed Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and Coal Minister G Kishan Reddy as election in-charges for the upcoming Assembly polls in Haryana and Jammu and Kashmir respectively. Pradhan will be assisted by former Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb as election co-in charge in Haryana.

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BJP Faces Challenges in Upcoming State Elections Amid Alliances and Previous Performance

Maharashtra, Haryana and Jharkhand will go to polls later this year. However, the Supreme Court has directed to hold elections before September in Jammu and Kashmir. 

The BJP is ruling Maharashtra and Haryana along with its allies. The BJP, Shiv Sena (Shinde) and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP-Ajit Pawar) are in alliance in Maharashtra and Eknath Shinde is the Chief Minister. BJP’s Nayab Singh Saini is the Haryana Chief Minister with the support of independents and small parties. 

The Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) and Congress alliance is in power in Jharkhand. JMM’s Champai Soren is the Chief Minister after the arrest of Hemant Soren. 

The BJP and allies performed poorly in Maharashtra and Haryana in the just concluded Lok Sabha Elections 2024. The BJP-led NDA could win just 17 seats (BJP 9, Shiv Sena 7, NCP 1) in Maharashtra as against MVA’s 30 (Congress 13, Shiv Sena-UBT 9, NCP-SP 8). In Jharkhand, the BJP-AJSU alliance won 9 seats while the opposition alliance won 5 seats.    

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AAP and BJP Announce Candidates for Jalandhar West Bypoll Amid Recent Party Switches

In another development, the Aam Aadmi Party and the BJP announced their nominees for the bypoll to the Jalandhar West assembly seat in Punjab, fielding candidates who have switched sides in the recent past.

While the AAP named Mohinder Bhagat as its candidate, the BJP fielded Sheetal Angural for the by-elections.

The bypoll to the Jalandhar West assembly seat will be held on July 10 and counting of votes will take place on July 13.  The by-election was necessitated following the resignation of Angural as an Aam Aadmi Party legislator.

Bhagat is the son of Bhagat Chunni Lal, who was the minister in the erstwhile SAD-BJP government. Last year, Bhagat had quit the BJP and joined the AAP. He had unsuccessfully contested from the Jalandhar West seat on a BJP ticket in the 2022 Punjab Assembly elections.

The BJP went with Angural, who had resigned as an AAP legislator from the Jalandhar West seat. In the 2022 Punjab assembly polls, Angural had won from the Jalandhar West assembly seat by defeating Sushil Rinku, who was then the Congress candidate.