Hemant Khandelwal is new MP BJP chief; state presidents named in 9 units
on Wednesday appointed Baitul MLA
Hemant Khandelwal
as its new state president, ending a vacancy of over five years. Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan, who oversaw the state unit's organisational elections, announced Khandelwal's appointment after he emerged as the sole nominee on Tuesday.
Khandelwal, who belongs to the Vaishya community, is seen as a consensus choice amid internal discussions over caste representation. With the state already having an OBC chief minister, a Brahmin and a Dalit as deputy CMs, the selection of Khandelwal helps the BJP further balance its caste equations.
The son of four-time MP Vijay Khandelwal, Hemant was elected MP from Baitul in a 2008 bypoll after his father's death. Following the constituency's reservation in 2009, he transitioned to organisational roles, serving as state party treasurer for four years and leading BJP's office-building efforts across districts.
He reportedly impressed the central leadership during the 2024 Lok Sabha polls with his coordination skills. BJP national vice-president Saudan Singh is said to have first proposed Khandelwal's name, which later gained wider support. Union minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan credited him with suggesting the CM RISE school initiative during the announcement.
Khandelwal's appointment is part of a broader organisational reshuffle under the BJP's second phase of
Sangathan Parv
(Organisational Drive). New state chiefs have been appointed in a total of nine states and union territories:
Live Events
Madhya Pradesh - Hemant Khandelwal
Maharashtra - Ravindra Chavan
Telangana - N. Ramchander Rao
Andhra Pradesh - PVN Madhav
Uttarakhand - Mahendra Bhatt
Himachal Pradesh - Rajeev Bindal
Puducherry - VP Ramalingam
Mizoram - Beichhua
Andaman & Nicobar Islands - Anil Tiwari
With these additions, the BJP has now completed internal elections in 28 states and UTs, well above the 19 required to initiate the national presidential poll. Party insiders say appointments for West Bengal and Odisha are expected soon, while elections in key states like Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Karnataka, Delhi, and Haryana will determine the timeline for the national president's election.
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Business Standard
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Time of India
19 minutes ago
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26 minutes ago
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Singh attributed the operation's success to political will, adding that the armed forces were not at all fettered. Obliquely swatting Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's attack in the Lok Sabha on not giving the forces a free hand, the air chief said the constraints, if any, were self-imposed as they themselves decided the escalation ladder and how and when to wind it down. Admitting that people close to him peppered him with queries about pausing the operation after hitting nine terror targets in Pakistan and Pakistanoccupied Kashmir, he explained the attacks were calibrated because 'we wanted to be mature about it'. The objective was to warn the leadership of terror outfits that the India-Pak border won't be a constraint for pursuing them if they dared to repeat the crime. Singh was also profuse in his praise of the Russian S-400s, saying the enemy failed to penetrate the anti-missile shield. Another plus was the copious images available in real time. Contrasting them with the Balakot air strike in Pakistan after the Pulwama terror attack in 2019, he said, since no visual of the attack could be procured, convincing 'our own people' on the outcome became difficult. Now that India has made public the kills of the Pakistani birds, it is only fair to expect clarity on the aircraft losses on our side. There is no need for secrecy. Disclosing the data will not hamper national security. Analogies such as 'the result of the exam is important, not whether a pencil got broken or a pen was lost' underestimate the maturity of the very people in whose name the battle was fought.
