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Union Minister Pankaj Chaudhary is certain to become the UP BJP President. On Saturday, he filed his nomination in the presence of UP CM Yogi Adityanath, Deputy CM Keshav Prasad Maurya and Brajesh Pathak. Pankaj Chaudhary is a seven-time Lok Sabha member. He is counted as an influential OBC leader of UP. After the victory in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the Modi government handed over the responsibility of Minister of State for Finance to Pankaj Chaudhary. Now it is almost certain that he will become the state president.

Seven-time MP from Maharajganj, Pankaj Chaudhary belongs to the Kurmi community. There is a significant number of Kurmi community in Uttar Pradesh. Their role is decisive in many districts. BJP has found a solution to SP’s PDA formula by putting forward Pankaj Choudhary who comes from OBC community. But the real test of this political experiment of BJP will be in the assembly elections to be held in 2027.

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UP CM Yogi Adityanath comes from Gorakhpur. Pankaj Chaudhary belongs to Maharajganj. Both the districts share border with each other. This is the reason that apart from the Centre, Pankaj Choudhary is getting full support at the state level also. In 1989, Pankaj started his politics from Gorakhpur Municipal Corporation. He was also the Deputy Mayor of Gorakhpur. His mother Ujjwal Chaudhary has also been the Maharajganj District Panchayat President. Talking about Pankaj Chaudhary’s education, he has obtained a bachelor’s degree from Gorakhpur University.

There are about 8 to 10 percent Kurmi voters in Uttar Pradesh. This community has the power to influence 40 seats. Kurmi community is the second largest ethnic group among OBCs after Yadavs. Santosh Gangwar, who has been an MP from Bareilly several times, is counted among the influential leaders of the Kurmi community. However, after he became the Governor, BJP was looking for a strong Kurmi leader. Rakesh Sachan, who is included in the Yogi cabinet, also belongs to the Kurmi community. But his background is to SP and Congress, whereas Pankaj Chaudhary has been a part of BJP since the 90s.

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BJP is well aware of the strength of the Kurmi community. This is the reason why its alliance with Apna Dal (Sonelal) has remained intact in the center and state for the last 10 years. Apna Dal (Sonelal) president Anupriya Patel is a minister at the Center and her husband Ashish Patel is a minister in the Yogi government.

It is believed that in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, OBC votes will be lost to BJP in large numbers. He had to bear the brunt of this. In 2019, BJP had won 62 Lok Sabha seats in UP. Its seats will reduce to 33 in 2024. SP increased from five to 37 seats. SP cited PDA formula as the reason for its landslide victory. SP categorizes backward, dalit and minority communities in the PDA.