Lucknow: Will Pankaj Chaudhary be relieved of the charge of Union minister to devote full attention to his organisational role as Uttar Pradesh BJP chief ahead of the 2027 Assembly elections? This question is doing rounds amid the buzz of a reshuffle in the Modi Cabinet. The speculation is gaining traction since the BJP on Thursday denied Rajya Sabha tickets to two Union ministers — Ravneet Singh Bittu and George Kurian — for the June 18 polls. While Bittu is Minister of State for Railways and Food Processing, Kurian is the junior minister for Minority Affairs and Animal Husbandry.
Chaudhary, Minister of State for Finance, took charge as UP BJP chief in December 2025. Besides him, Minister of State for Corporate Affairs Harsh Malhotra is the other Union minister who was recently appointed Delhi BJP chief. Barring a few exceptions, the BJP has followed the principle of 'one-person-one-post'. A senior UP BJP member said that Chaudhary already faces the task of stepping up spadework to counter the Samajwadi Party and its ally Congress in the Assembly elections.
The UP BJP chief is in the process of finalising his team of state functionaries who will steer the party in the high-stakes polls. A BJP functionary said that besides strengthening the party organisation, Chaudhary will be asked to coordinate between the government and the cadre, oversee membership and outreach campaigns, manage caste and regional equations, and prepare the electoral machinery. Analysts say these responsibilities demand full-time attention of the state president, and it might be prudent to relieve him of ministerial duties.
The BJP, as a convention, has adjusted the roles of its functionaries depending on electoral priorities. In several instances, members were either moved from government to organisation or vice-versa to meet political requirements. A veteran from eastern Uttar Pradesh's political turf, Chaudhary is a seven-time MP from Maharajganj and has both organisational experience and administrative exposure. His appointment as UP BJP chief was widely viewed as an attempt to balance regional and social equations while strengthening the party's outreach among non-Yadav OBCs, primarily Kurmis.
His dual role has enabled coordination between the state organisation and the central government, allowing him to project both political and administrative influence. Amid the likelihood of a Union Cabinet reshuffle and the BJP's preparation for an intense campaign for the Uttar Pradesh elections, Chaudhary's future role is likely to remain a subject of political interest in both Lucknow and Delhi.
