New Delhi [India], August 18 (ANI): The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is gearing up its preparations for the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections to be held early next year and the appointment of General Secretary Vinod Tawde as the in-charge of the crucial electoral state reflects the party's decision to have an experienced leader with vast experience of elections in the position.
The party on Tuesday also appointed Jagdish Ishwarbhai Patelas the co-in-charge of the state.
Sources said the BJP's focus is on strengthening social and caste equations. Leaders from Other Backward Classes (OBC) and minority communities in Uttar Pradesh are also being given greater representation in the appointment of office-bearers.
Tawde, a Rajya Sabha MP, has handled several key electoral responsibilities for the BJP and NDA. He is seen to have good rapport with the party's allies.
Tawde has been associated with Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad and was its general secretary. He took charge as BJP Maharashtra's general secretary in 1995. This was the period when BJP-Shiv Sena alliance formed the government in Maharashtra. Recognizing his organizational skills, he was again given the responsibility of State General Secretary in 2002 and he worked to strengthen the organization by spreading the BJP's ideology across booths.
In 1999, Tawde became the youngest President of the Bharatiya Janata Party's Mumbai unit. During his tenure, the number of corporators in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation doubled and the BJP's representation increased. He also secured a budget of crores for Mumbai from then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, which helped shape several development projects in the Mumbai region.
Tawde first became a member of the Maharashtra Legislative Council in 2002. During his second term in 2011, he was elected as the Leader of Opposition in the Council. As Leader of Opposition, he strongly raised various public issues and drew the House's attention to several important subjects and problems of the state.
In 2014, Tawde was elected to the Maharashtra Assembly for the first time from the Borivali constituency. As a minister in the Maharashtra government, he implemented several decisions in School Education, Parliamentary Affairs, Higher and Technical Education, Medical Education, Sports and Youth Welfare, Culture, Marathi Language, Minority Development, and Waqf.
In 2021, Tawde was given responsibility of national General Secretary and is seen to have established himself as a political strategist and skilled organizer.
He was in-charge of Bihar and the BJP now has its first Chief Minister in the state as head of a coalition government. Party leaders said he played an active role in the membership drive in 2024 when a record was created.
He has also handled various responsibilities, including the Presidential and Vice-Presidential elections, Haryana state elections, Chandigarh Mayor elections and the Keralam programme.
Vinod Vijaya Shridhar Tawde was elected to the Rajya Sabha from Maharashtra in 2026 and has over four decades of experience in politics.
BJP announced party President Nitin Nabin's new team on Monday. (ANI)
BJP gears up preparations for UP polls, Vinod Tawde gets key role based on experience and organsational work
