With 8 Leaders, UP Gets The Lion's Share In BJP's Big Revamp Under Nitin Nabin

Uttar Pradesh, a key Hindi heartland state which goes to polls early next year, was the biggest beneficiary in the BJP's revamped team announced on Monday under the leadership of party chief Nitin Nabin.

The appointments come months after Nitin Nabin, who is the youngest to helm the party, took over as the BJP chief in December.

Eight leaders from UP made the cut, the maximum from any state.

The BJP named 13 national vice presidents, with two - Rekha Verma and Prof Tariq Mansoor - among them from UP.

Out of the 8 national general secretaries, two - Smriti Irani and Harish Dwivedi - are from UP.

Among the 16 National Secretaries, two -Bhola Singh and Sangeeta Yadav - are again from UP.

And among the 7 Morcha presidents, two - Amarpal Maurya and Kunwar Basit Ali - are from UP.

The BJP announced its new team of national office-bearers, with the party appointing 13 national vice presidents, including Vasundhara Raje Scindia, Tirath Singh Rawat, Ram Madhav, Baijayant Jay Panda and Smriti Irani as one of its national general secretaries. The appointments,… pic.twitter.com/jFl9DQSOSV

— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) August 17, 2026

Here is a look at the leaders from UP:

Smriti Irani - The feisty BJP leader makes a big comeback in BJP's core team as the party's National General Secretary. She proved to be the David who beat the Goliath in Rahul Gandhi in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls in Amethi. Five years later, she met the same fate in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls when Kishori Lal Sharma, a Gandhi family loyalist, beat her in the same constituency. At one point, Smriti Irani was the Education Minister in the Narendra Modi cabinet. She also served as Union Textile Minister. In July last year, she returned to television, reprising her role as Tulsi Virani in the reboot of Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu this Season 2. Now, she is back again in the thick of political action.

Harish Dwivedi - He is the other National General Secretary who comes from Basti in UP. He lost the 2012 Assembly election, but subsequently won the Lok Sabha election from the Basti constituency twice in a row - in 2014 and 2019. He has also served as a National General Secretary of the BJP and has been in charge of party affairs in several states, including Assam.

Rekha Verma - The BJP leader, who was named the national vice president, has served two terms as the Member of Parliament for the Dhaurahra Lok Sabha constituency in Uttar Pradesh. She lost the 2024 election. She has held the position of National Vice President of the BJP since 2019. Additionally, she was appointed as the co-in-charge of the Uttarakhand BJP and is considered a very strong leader of the party in the Awadh region.

Prof Tariq Mansoor - Named the national vice president of the BJP, he is a former Vice-Chancellor of Aligarh Muslim University and currently a member of the UP Legislative Council. He has also served as a Professor in the Department of Surgery at Aligarh's Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College. He is one of the party's prominent intellectual Muslim faces, working to advance the party's policies regarding the Pasmanda Muslim community and the education sector.

Bhola Singh - The new BJP national secretary is the party MP from the Bulandshahr constituency in UP. Regarded as a grassroots leader, he has won the Lok Sabha election from Bulandshahr three consecutive times. He has also served as a member of several key parliamentary committees and is one of the BJP's strong pillars in Western Uttar Pradesh.

Sangeeta Yadav - The second national secretary from UP is a Rajya Sabha MP from the state. Earlier, she served as an MLA from the Chauri-Chaura assembly constituency. The party had also entrusted her with the responsibility of serving as the National General Secretary of the BJP Mahila Morcha at the national level. She is a prominent female leader from the Purvanchal region and a key OBC face of the party.

Amarpal Maurya - Named the OBC morcha president, he is a Rajya Sabha MP from Uttar Pradesh. The BJP leader has held significant roles, such as State General Secretary, within the Uttar Pradesh BJP organisation. He is counted among the close associates of Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya and holds deep influence within the state's Maurya-Shakya-Saini community (OBC).

Kunwar Basit Ali - A prominent minority leader within the Uttar Pradesh BJP, he has been named the president of Minority Morcha. He has also served as the president of the party's Minority Morcha in UP. He has now been promoted within the BJP, moving directly from the UP team to the national team.