Mahendra Nath Pandey appointed Uttar Pradesh BJP chief, to replace Keshav Prasad Maurya

New Delhi: Union minister Mahendra Nath Pandey was on Thursday appointed Uttar Pradesh BJP president in place of deputy chief minister Keshav Prasad Maurya, the party said in a statement.

The seasoned BJP leader, one of the better known Brahmin faces of the party in the state, had served as a minister in previous BJP governments in Uttar Pradesh.

He was elected to the Lok Sabha in 2014 from Chandauli, an eastern UP constituency, and was appointed in 2016 as a minister of state for human resource development (HRD).

BJP president Amit Shah’s decision to put Pandey (59) in charge of the state unit appears to be aimed at consolidating the party’s hold over the state’s sizable Brahmin population.

With caste being a key political factor in the state where the party opted for a Thakur in Yogi Adityanath as chief minister, Pandey’s choice is likely an exercise that seeks to keep the caste equation stable.

His predecessor Maurya came from the OBC community and was made one of the two deputy chief ministers in the state government.

Pandey is likely to resign as a Union minister as he assumes his new charge. It will create one more vacancy in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s council of ministers. Party sources have indicated that a cabinet reshuffle may happen anytime.

Speculation has also swirled over the fate of Cabinet minister Kalraj Mishra, a prominent Brahmin leader from UP, as he has crossed the age of 75 years.

Many ministers were axed in the past after they crossed the age bar which the party has informally set for its ministers.

Mishra had also met Shah on Thursday.