Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan Given BJP's Bihar Election Charge

Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan has been made the BJP's in-charge for the upcoming Bihar elections that will test the Nitish Kumar-led NDA's resilience against the state's ingrained caste equations and the opposition's call for a change.

Mr Pradhan will be assisted by two co in-charges, Union Jal Shakti Minister CR Patil and Uttar Pradesh minister Keshav Prasad Maurya.

The election dates are expected to be announced next month.

Bihar election will be a closely watched political contest this year, with all 243 seats in the state's legislative assembly electing their representatives. It has already raised the political decibel from Patna to Delhi.

The election will be fought on planks ranging from development to law and order, pitting Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's governance record against Tejashwi Yadav's social justice push, with both sides readying their choice of allies. Another factor to watch out for is the influence of election strategist Prashant Kishor's new Jan Suraaj party.

The BJP has also announced its in-charges for West Bengal and Tamil Nadu, both due early next year. Union Minister Bhupendra Yadav is the in-charge for Bengal and Tripura MP Biplab Deb the co in-charge, while Lok Sabha MP Baijayant Panda has been made the in-charge for Tamil Nadu.

The BJP has already made inroads in Bengal and will trying to expand the gains it made last election at the expense of the ruling Trinamool, and test its luck once again in Tamil Nadu against the duopoly of the main Dravidian parties.