BJP appoints election in-charges for 4 poll-bound states; Tomar, G Kishan Reddy in the mix

On Tuesday, BJP president JP Nadda appointed the party's election in-charge and co-in-charges of the poll-bound states of Assam, Puducherry, Kerala and Tamil Nadu. Apart from these 4 states, West Bengal too will witness Assembly polls in April-May this year. For Assam, Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar is the election in-charge while MoS PMO Dr. Jitendra Singh has been named as the co-in-charge.

Union MoS Home G Kishan Reddy and MoS Road Transport & Highways VK Singh will serve as Tamil Nadu election in-charge and co-in-charge respectively. Meanwhile, Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi will be the Kerala polls in-charge and will be assisted by Karnataka Deputy CM Dr. Ashwathnarayan. On the other hand, Union MoS Parliamentary Affairs Arjun Ram Meghwal and BJP Rajya Sabha MP Rajeev Chandrasekhar have been appointed as the Puducherry election in-charge and co-in-charge respectively. 

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BJP's thrust on upcoming Assembly polls

BJP is looking to increase its electoral gains in the upcoming Assembly polls. In Assam, BJP had swept the state polls in 2016 winning 86 seats in the 126-member Assembly while Congress could win from only 26 constituencies. The ruling BJP has commenced its preparations for the polls by forming a 16-member state election committee including Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal, senior Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and state president Ranjeet Kumar Dass. While it is expected to continue the tie-up with AGP, the JP Nadda-led party is at loggerheads with its other ally Bodoland People's Front. 

After BJP won 18 out of 42 West Bengal Lok Sabha constituencies in the 2019 General Election, the party's top leadership has intensified its focus on ousting the Mamata Banerjee-led TMC. In a big boost to the party's chances, it has inducted many leaders who had won in the 2016 Assembly polls such as Suvendu Adhikari, Silbhadra Dutta, Tapasi Mondal, Ashoke Dinda, Sudip Mukherjee, Saikat Panja, Dipali Biswas, Sukra Munda, Shyamapda Mukherjee, Biswajit Kundu, Banasri Maity, Rajib Banerjee and Baishali Dalmiya. BJP president JP Nadda and other leaders have exuded confidence in the party winning more than 200 seats in the 294-member Assembly.

Despite being a marginal player in Tamil Nadu, the JP Nadda-led party has announced that it will tie-up with ruling AIADMK and other like-minded parties. However, it has refused to categorically endorse incumbent CM E Palaniswami's candidature as the NDA's Chief Ministerial candidate. As far as Kerala is concerned, BJP is unlikely to be in a position to form the government with UDF being the principal challenger to the ruling LDF. In Puducherry, its alliance with the AINRC led by former CM N Rangasamy is likely to continue. 

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