BJP reshuffle: Dilip Jaiswal new Bihar chief, Madan Rathore to lead Rajasthan

In an effort to regain the support of the Extremely Backward Classes (EBC), who drifted away from the BJP in the recent Lok Sabha elections, the BJP has appointed Dilip Jaiswal — a member of an EBC group himself — as Bihar chief.

Jaiswal's appointment is expected to positively influence the EBC vote bank ahead of the 2025 assembly elections in the state. He replaces Samrat Choudhary, who was appointed Bihar BJP chief during the Lok Sabha polls and was later inducted into Nitish Kumar's cabinet as deputy chief minister of Bihar, on the BJP's quota in the state government.

Rajasthan also saw Madan Rathore, currently a Rajya Sabha MP, named the new state president of the BJP.

Rathore, who replaces C.P. Joshi, is a native of Pali district and was an MLA twice during Vasundhara Raje’s two tenures as chief minister, 2003–08 and 2013–18. He started his political career as a pracharak in the RSS in the 1970s and rose to become deputy chief whip of the BJP in 2014–2018. He is a well-regarded strategist within BJP and RSS circles.

At the national level too, this organisational reshuffle within the BJP, the first since the Lok Sabha polls, is significant. The reshuffle, as per political watchers, reflects the party's strategic adjustments in key states ahead of the upcoming elections.

While the BJP-led NDA performed better in Bihar than in Uttar Pradesh, securing 30 out of 40 seats, it is believed that this change will have a positive spillover effect in UP.

It is worth mentioning here that the pichhda-Dalit-alpsankhyak formula — or PDA, representing the backward/underserved communities, Dalit castes and minorities — that was introduced by Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav had significantly affected the BJP's prospects in Uttar Pradesh. The BJP-led alliance here failed to repeat its previous chest-thumping performance, winning only 36 seats in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

BJP national president J.P. Nadda also appointed new prabharis (in-charges) and sah-prabharis (joint in-charges) for several states, including Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu.

New prabharis were appointed for Rajasthan, Lakshadweep, Chandigarh, Tamil Nadu, Tripura and Assam, and new sah-prabharis added for the BJP units of Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu.