Lucknow: BJP may take a cue from its Gujarat unit playbook to effect organisational overhaul in Uttar Pradesh in the run-up to the assembly elections next year.UP BJP sources said the party think tank has suggested replacing office-bearers who have held organisational posts for two or more consecutive terms of three years. UP BJP has many functionaries who have held one or other post in the organisation for more than a decade.Likewise, office-bearers who are members of either House of the state legislature (Assembly or Council), mayors, and chairpersons of any boards or council/corporation are likely to be shifted from organisational posts.UP BJP chief Pankaj Chaudhary had recently hinted that the party will give opportunities to new faces, primarily youth and women.In Gujarat, the party appointed 35 new office-bearers, including 10 vice-presidents, four general secretaries, and various frontal organisations (Morcha) presidents, effectively replacing almost the entire previous team in Dec 2025. Prior to it the state leadership executed a “reset” strategy, where the entire cabinet under CM Bhupendra Patel resigned to make way for a new team.The new team, a senior UP BJP functionary said, will mainly focus on striking a caste and regional balance. Currently, none of the seven state general secretaries are from western UP region, which has a sizeable population of Jats, Gurjars, Muslims, and Dalits, though state general secretary (organisation) Dharampal Singh hails from Bijnor in west UP.However, west UP, which has seen farmer agitation and communal polarisation in recent years, has stronger representation in the vice-president category — six of 17 state vice-presidents are from west UP.Sources said the party needs to keep experienced hands in the loop as part of its strategy while preparing to take on the opposition.Analysts said the BJP is aiming at leadership rotation, which aligns with the party’s organisational culture of preventing long-term entrenchment in party posts. The party also plans to rope in full-time organisational managers to focus on mobilisation of cadre and executing party programmes at the grassroots.Sources said BJP wants to pre-empt any anti-incumbency factor by forming a fresh organisational team.This, not surprisingly, trained the arc lights on the BJP’s bid to combine organisational change, caste balance, and lessons from Gujarat to refresh its political machinery while preparing for the UP elections.
