BIP gears up for polls, announces election in-charges for Bihar, Bengal and Tamil Nadu

New Delhi: Gearing itself for key elections, the BJP has appointed incharges in key states. BJP president J P Nadda on Thursday unveiled key organisational changes ahead of the Bihar and West Bengal assembly elections, assigning senior union ministers to spearhead the campaigns in Bihar, West Bengal and Tamil Nadu.

In a letter issued by BJP national general secretary Arun Singh made the announcement. Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan has been appointed as the incharge of the forthcoming Bihar Assembly elections, with union minister CR Patil, and UP Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Maurya as the co-incharges. Union Minister Bhupendra Yadav will be in charge of West Bengal, where he will be assisted by former Tripura CM Biplab Deb.

Nadda also appointed Baijayant Panda as the poll in-charge of Tamil Nadu, with Murlidhar Mohol as his deputy in the Southern state where the party is yet to strike big.

Pradhan, who has delivered Haryana in an unexpected win last year, has been given the task to steer the party in the face of mounting pressure from the RJD-Congress combine. Senior party leaders said that Pradhan, over the years, has featured in BJP’s strategic push in states like Odisha, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand.

While the party has stitched a social coalition in the state, deputing both Patil and Maurya apart from Pradhan is a signal that the party wants to keep the caste equation intact.

In West Bengal, the BJP faces steep odds, with TMC’s Mamata Banerjee expected to give a tough time to the saffron party. The lack of organisational heft for the BJP is a key concern. As the Election Commission has proposed to add nearly 14,000 new polling booths under a Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bengal, BJP’s shortage of Booth Level Agents (BLAs) is a serious concern. TMC has no such issues; BJP is reportedly able to cover only about 70% of booths.

In Tamil Nadu, where the BJP is yet to make significant progress, the party has managed to gather 11% of votes in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections alone without NDA ally AIADMK after it broke away from the NDA in 2024. AIADMK later rejoined for the 2026 Assembly elections.