BS Yeddyurappa to head BJP in Karnataka, Keshav Prasad Maurya in Uttar Pradesh

NEW DELHI: Gearing up for assembly elections, BJP today plumped for former Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa to lead the party in Karnataka and appointed Keshav Prasad Maurya, an OBC long associated with RSS and VHP, as its President in Uttar Pradesh.

It also named Union Minister Vijay Sampla, a Dalit leader, as its president in Punjab. Maurya, Yeddyurappa and Sampla are Lok Sabha members at present. Uttar Pradesh and Punjab will go to polls next year while Karnataka will have elections in 2018.

Yeddyurappa, the tallest Lingayat leader who was removed as Chief Minister on corruption charges and had floated his own party before the last assembly elections, returns to the helm of affairs in the state BJP, which is looking to wrest power back from Congress.

Reacting to his appointment, Yeddyurappa said his priority would be to bring back BJP to power as people are "fed up" with the "corrupt" Congress government.

Maurya is a first-time MP from Phulpur and party president Amit Shah opted for him from among a number of state leaders that did the rounds for months for the crucial assignment. He has actively campaigned on issues like Ram temple and cow protection.

OBC leaders Dharampal Singh and Swatantra Dev besides Dinesh Sharma, a Brahmin, and Union Minister Manoj Sinha, a Bhumihar, were among the other contenders for the post but Maurya's social background and Hindutva activism tipped the scale in his favour, sources said.

"He comes from a backward community and a very poor family. He sold newspapers and tea for a living," BJP General Secretary Arun Singh said at a press conference. He said Maurya was a "full timer", a term for those associated with RSS, for over 14 years.