New Delhi: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Wednesday, decided to change party presidents in Delhi and Bihar.
Manoj Tiwari, popular Bhojpuri singer and BJP MP from North-East Delhi, replaced Satish Upadhyay as the president of the Delhi unit.
"Manoj Tiwari will replace Satish Upadhyay as BJP chief with immediate effect," an official statement said.
Tiwari's elevation can be seen as an attempt by the BJP to woo Purvanchali and Bihari voters, who form a sizeable chunk of the electorate.
Given the huge following 45-year-old Tiwari commands among Bhojpuri speaking voters, the BJP will be hoping that his popularity will translate into more support for the party from the group.
The BJP central leadership has also appointed Nityanand Rai as its Bihar chief. He will be replacing Mangal Pandey.
50-year-old Rai is a Lok Sabha MP from Bihar's Ujiarpur constituency. He is a Yadav, a community over which RJD chief Lalu Prasad has a strong hold.
His appointment is seen as an effort by the BJP to go beyond the upper castes, its traditional voters, and reach out to the OBCs in the caste-conscious state where it lost to JDU-RJD combine in the last assembly polls.
With agency inputs
