After days of speculation and a consultative process involving chief minister Yogi Adityanath, UP BJP president Pankaj Chaudhary and the party’s state general secretary (organisation) Dharampal with inputs from the Centre, the party announced its new state executive on Thursday, putting in place a young team with an eye on the 2027 state assembly polls and conveying a message of generational shift.The appointments followed a consultative process involving senior leaders. (FILE PHOTO)With 32 new faces, the new team reflects an emphasis on efficiency, the capacity to work hard, and the hunger to make a mark.The revamped team, which will work under the leadership of Pankaj Chaudhary, who is also the Union minister of state for finance, has 19 state vice-presidents, eight state general secretaries and 19 state secretaries.While a sizable number of faces in the new list fall in the 40-45 years age bracket, 14 old-timers have retained their places.The inclusion of defence minister Rajnath Singh’s son Neeraj Singh and rebel Samajwadi Party MLA Pooja Pal as state vice-presidents and the elevation of Abhijat Mishra to the post of state general secretary ensures the reshuffle is not just an administrative exercise, but a politically significant reset in the run-up to the polls.Neeraj, in the 40- 45 years age bracket, has been politically active in Lucknow where he has been seen at all political events of the party for the past several years. His inclusion is being attributed to his hard work.Pooja Pal, wife of BSP MLA Raju Pal who was killed in Prayagraj in 2005, has been inducted into the state executive as vice-president, over 10 months after she was expelled from the SP in August 2025 for praising chief minister Yogi Adityanath.Ankur Sharma of Bulandshahr is another youth leader who has found a place as state secretary.Yatendra Sharma of Hathras has also been appointed state secretary.Regional presidents have also been declared for West, Braj, Kanpur, Awadh, Kashi, and Gorakhpur.The elevation of Abhijat Mishra, in the 45 to 50 years age group, to the post of state general secretary from secretary, further shows the party’s emphasis on giving prominence to young leaders.In the BJP’s organisational structure, the general secretary’s role is central to political coordination, organisational management and election preparation, making Mishra’s elevation one of the more key decisions in the new team.THE NEW TEAMState vice-presidentsSuresh Rana, Satyapal Saini, Braj Bahadur, Dr. Dharmendra Singh, Mohit Beniwal, Devesh Kori, Priyanka Rawat, Durvijay Shakya, Ramesh Singh, Neeraj Singh, Archana Mishra , Pooja Pal, Shankar Giri, Kameshwar Singh, Kritika Agarwal, Suresh Maurya, Rajesh Yadav, Krishna Bihari Rai and Alok GuptaState general secretariesRampratap Singh Chauhan, Geeta Shakya , Abhijat Mishra, Upendra Rawat, Sanjay Rai, Shankar Lodhi, Dilip Patel and Rajesh Chaudhary.SecretariesVijay Shivhare, Basant Tyagi, Shivbhushan SinghSahajanand Rai, Ankur Sharma, Anil Yadav, Awadhesh Srivastava, Vinay Rajbhar, Parmendra Jangra Vishwakarma, Kiran Lodhi Nishad, Ekesh Bind, Sachita Singh Chauhan (Lunia), Rajni Pandey, Rahul Valmiki, Mahamedha Nagar, Deepmala Santoshi, Suhasini Jaiswal, Yatendra Sharma, Akanksha Sonkar.Regional presidentsNawab Singh Nagar (West), Puran Lal Lodhi (Braj), Ram Kishore Sahu (Kanpur), Awadhesh Dwivedi (Awadh),Ashok Chaurasia (Kashi), Vinod Rai (Gorakhpur).Other office bearersBharat Dixit (Office secretary), Atul Awasthi (office co-secretary), Lakshman Singh (office co-secretary)Media and social mediaDinesh Pratap Singh (chief spokesperson), Manish Dixit (state media coordinator), Himanshu Raj Pandit (state social media coordinator)Morcha presidentsRohit Mishra (State president, Yuva Morcha), Prakash Pal (State president, OBC Morcha), Devendra Singh (State president, Kisan Morcha), Ashok Rawat (State president, SC Morcha), Saroj Kushwaha (State president, Mahila Morcha), Vidyabhushan Gond (State president, ST Morcha)