New Delhi:
A day after naming the Nitin Nabin team, the BJP has made three major appointments, designating in-charges for three poll-bound states: Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, and Gujarat.
Party General Secretary Vinod Tawde has been entrusted with the command of Uttar Pradesh. General Secretary Satish Poonia has been appointed as the in-charge for Punjab, while Tarun Chugh has been given charge of Gujarat.
Uttar Pradesh presents the biggest challenge for the BJP. Although the party won two consecutive Lok Sabha and two Assembly elections, it suffered a setback in the last Lok Sabha polls. Consequently, translating the strategy to achieve a ‘hat-trick’ of victories in the state into reality will be a challenge for Vinod Tawde.
He has been active in Uttar Pradesh for the past few months, playing a significant role in matters ranging from the expansion of the Yogi cabinet to putting together a team for state president Pankaj Chaudhary. Tawde’s influence has also been evident in various state-level appointments. He has actively worked to improve coordination and synergy between the government and the party organisation. Known for his inclusive approach, he is well-positioned to manage the Uttar Pradesh BJP, which has been plagued by factionalism.
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Prior to Uttar Pradesh, Tawde proved his mettle in Bihar as the state in-charge for the BJP. He played a crucial and decisive role as an organisational strategist. When the BJP entrusted him with Bihar in 2022, things were not really going the BJP way. He acted as a key mediator and coordinator in bringing the JD(U) back into the NDA fold and facilitating seat-sharing arrangements.
Tawde worked to strengthen the BJP’s cadre at the booth level, energise party workers through state executive meetings across various districts, and balance complex socio-caste equations. The responsibility of maintaining coordination among the various NDA constituents-such as JD(U) and LJP (Ram Vilas)-and implementing election strategies at the grassroots level rested on his shoulders.
He was at the forefront of strategising for visits by central leaders, meetings involving star campaigners, and the dissemination of the party’s key narratives-such as issues regarding reservation and development-to the public. Following the landslide victory in the assembly elections, he played a pivotal role in ensuring that a BJP leader became the Chief Minister of the state for the first time.
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In recognition of his adept organisational management and the party’s performance in Bihar, the central leadership consistently placed its trust in him, retaining him in the role of National General Secretary. Apart from Sunil Bansal, he is the only General Secretary to have continued his tenure from ‘Team Nadda’ into ‘Team Nabin).
Vinod Tawde comes from Maharashtra and has long held significant positions within the organisation. He has been actively associated with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) since his student days.
In the 1980s, he emerged as a full-time activist within the ABVP. A prominent Maratha leader, he served as the Cabinet Minister for Higher and Technical Education, School Education, Sports, and Cultural Affairs in the Devendra Fadnavis-led Maharashtra government from 2014 to 2019. He was a member of the Maharashtra Legislative Council and served as the Leader of the Opposition in the Council from 2011 to 2014. In 1999, he became the President of the Mumbai BJP, ranking among the youngest leaders to hold the post. Additionally, he served as the General Secretary of the Maharashtra BJP for several years.
