By Arun Pratap Singh
Dehradun, 10 Mar: Amidst speculation rife over possible cabinet expansion in Uttarakhand, the ruling party, BJP, has released its list of new party district presidents. Uttarakhand BJP state in-charge Dushyant Gautam announced the names today.
Dehradun Mahanagar President Siddharth Umesh Agarwal is among those who have been reappointed as district party president. A significant number of the district party presidents have been repeated while some have been changed. Sources indicated that the name of the State Party President will also be announced after the name of the new National Party President is announced by the party.
It may be recalled that though there are 13 districts in the state, BJP as well has Congress have created additional organisational districts for better management of the parties. Among those who have been appointed district party presidents for the first time, Rajendra Tariyal as district Party President of Rishikesh is among the most discussed names. He has replaced Ravindra Rana, who was considered to be close to Cabinet Minister Prem Chand Aggarwal.
Leader in charge of the party affairs in Uttarakhand Dushyant Gautam is currently in Dehradun and today he also held a meeting with the new and retained district party presidents. Meanwhile, sources said that the name of district party president in Ranikhet (District Almora) is yet to be finalised. Sources also claimed that some confusion still prevails over the name of Dr Madhu, who has been named district party president in Roorkee.
The BJP has announced new district presidents in 18 districts. The majority of the names in this list are new, while some old faces have been repeated in important districts. The BJP has retained old faces in the appointment of district presidents in Dehradun Mahanagar, Dehradun Rural, Pithoragarh, Nainital, and Udham Singh Nagar. New district presidents have been appointed in most of the remaining districts.
The District Presidents are Nagendra Chauhan (Uttarkashi); Jagpal Bartwal (Chamoli); Bharat Bhushan Bhatt (Rudraprayag); Meeta Singh (Dehradun Rural); Siddharth Agarwal (Dehradun Metropolitan); Rajendra Tadiyal (Rishikesh); Ashutosh Sharma (Haridwar); Kamal Kishore Rawat (Pauri); Raj Gaurav Nautiyal (Kotdwar); Girish Joshi (Pithoragarh); Prabhat Gadhiya (Bageshwar); Mahesh Nihal (Almora); Govind Samant (Champawat); Pratap Singh Bisht (Nainital); Manoj Pal (Kashipur); and Kamal Kumar Jindal (Udham Singh Nagar). The Bharatiya Janata Party is still considering the district presidents for Ranikhet and Roorkee. According to the state media in-charge of the Bharatiya Janata Party, Manveer Chauhan, the party will announce the district presidents for these two districts by this evening. After the announcement of the district presidents, the focus will shift to selecting the new president of the Bharatiya Janata Party in the state. The new team of the Bharatiya Janata Party in Uttarakhand will soon be ready, bearing the significant responsibility of the 2027 assembly elections.
There is considerable speculation within the state BJP about the announcement of the new state president also by the end of this month. Some sources believe that the present State Party President Mahendra Bhatt may be retained while some others claim that BJP may announce a woman leader for the first time. Organisation leaders believe that after Holi, the BJP may get a new national president, followed by the announcement of the state president. The question of who will lead the state organisation remains a topic of intense discussion within the party as well as in the media.
