BJP appoints election in-charge, co-in charge for eight states for 2019 Lok Sabha elections

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Saturday appointed the election in-charge and co-in charge for eight states for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

BJP president Amit Shah made the appointments for -- Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Andaman-Nicobar Islands, Karnataka, Delhi, Haryana, Tripura and Jammu & Kashmir.

The BJP chief has appointed Union Minister of Railways Piyush Goyal and BJP MLA CT Ravi for the states of Tamil Nadu, Pondicherry and Andaman, and Nicobar islands.

For Uttar Pradesh, Shah has appointed Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare JP Nadda; for Karnataka, it is BJP National General-Secretary Muralidhar Rao and BJP MLA Kiran Maheshwari.

The states of Tripura and Jammu and Kashmir has been entrusted with MP and BJP in-charge of Jammu & Kashmir Avinash Rai Khanna.

Union Minister of Defence Nirmala Sitaraman and Jayaram Singh Pawada has been appointed for Delhi.

Former minister and MP Kalraj Mishra and BJP MLA Vishwas Sarang have been appointed for Haryana.

According to party sources, Gordhan Zadaphia, a Gujarat leader who was a critic of Prime Minister Narendra Modi before returning to the BJP, would be one of the six co-incharges for Uttar Pradesh, adding that a big state like UP needs several co-incharges. It was earlier reported that Zadaphia would be the Uttar Pradesh in-charge. So far, the BJP has appointed three co-incharges for the state.

A BJP statement said Nadda, who enjoys the trust of Modi and party president Amit Shah, will be overall in-charge for the state that sends 80 members, more than any other state, to the Lok Sabha.

The announcement comes a day after it made similar appointments for 17 states.