Swatantra Dev Singh appointed as President of Uttar Pradesh BJP after party's big success in Lok Sabha polls

Days after a spectacular victory in the Lok Sabha elections 2019, and a big moral boost for the party by winning in Congress bastion of Amethi in Uttar Pradesh, BJP has appointed a new chief in the state. Swatantra Dev Singh is appointed as President of Uttar Pradesh Bharatiya Janata Party on July 16. The notice declaring the appointment was under signed by general secretary Arun Singh and stated that the national president has appointed him as the chief. 

The BJP on Tuesday also appointed Chandrakant Patil appointed as the President of BJP, Maharashtra. This comes after  BJP's state chief Raosaheb Patil Danve resigned from his post. 

Uttar Pradesh elections 

In 2019 Lok Sabha elections, as declared by the Election Commission, Uttar Pradesh has given the saffron party 62 seats, 11 less than the 2014 general elections, while the Congress has been confined to just one seat in Rae Bareli that the UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi won. The Gathbandhan comprising of SP-BSP-RLD alliance that was claiming to prepare for the Prime Minister’s position has fallen on its face with SP getting 5 seats and BSP improving its tally of 0 to 10 seats from 2014. 

In what was called as a massive win for any party in the state of Uttar Pradesh, BJP won 71 seats with its ally Apna Dal winning 2 seats, that brought the NDA tally to 73. The Congress faced an embarrassing defeat in the state with getting only 2 seats and the BSP, once the ruling party of the state gained no seats, while the SP was able to save their prestige by bagging 5 seats, mostly in their strongholds.

Congress in Uttar Pradesh
In a big political move, the Congress party has reportedly given the charge of Uttar Pradesh to General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, sources told on Monday. 

Earlier in June, Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee's (UPCC) office-bearers resigned from their posts, adding to the mass resignations, following the party's embarrassing defeat in the elections. After this, Congress dissolved its district committees in UP in a bit to set its house in order, and had set up a three-member panel to look into complaints of gross indiscipline during the election in the state. 

Notably, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra was appointed the General Secretary for UP (East) earlier this year in January days after she entered the political fray ahead of the general elections. Her appointment in UP Congress and election campaigning, however, failed to weave the magic in the state after the Grand Old Party lost massively, retaining only one seat of Raebareli, which was won by UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi. Following the defeat, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra held regular meetings with the party workers in the state as part of her plans for the 2022 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections.