With a focus on caste balance and delimitation the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has appointed district presidents in Haryana. As per the order issued by the Haryana District President Mohan Lal Badoli the party has made the appointment of 27 district presidents as the party has created 5 appointments in the state though the state has only 22 districts but the party has made appointment of 27 district presidents thus creating five additional districts of sub-divisions for the better structuring.
The move also assumes significance ahead of delimitation ahead of the 2029 general election. The list of the newly appointed district presidents reveal that the party has made an attempt to strike the caste balance with priority was given to Jats, Brahmin, Punjabi, OBCs and Dalits. The party has also appointed four women district presidents including Kaithal, Dawali, Rewari and Hisar.
The appointment of district presidents was announced on Monday morning. As per the list Praveen Joda has been made the president of Fatehabad district. Around 40 candidates had applied for the position, but Praveen Joda was selected due to his long association with the party. Besides
Tejendra Singh Goldy has been appointed as the Kurukshetra district president. BJP has also made two district presidents for Hisar, with Asha Khedar for Hisar and Ashok Saini for Hansi. Hisar district now includes Hisar, Adampur, Nalwa, and Uklana constituencies, while Barwala, Narnaund, and Hansi form Hansi district. Both Asha Khedar and Ashok Saini have been given a second term as district presidents.
Fifty-five candidates had applied for the Hisar district president position, while 15 applied for Hansi. Most applicants withdrew their nominations, leading to a unanimous selection of both presidents.
While Ranveer Singh Dhaka has been reappointed as district president in Rohtak district as the party has tried to strike a caste balance in the Jat dominated region and stronghold of former chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda. Dhaka started his political career with INLD, later joined Congress and finally switched to BJP in 2014. Dhaka was first appointed district president two years ago by BJP state president Om Prakash Dhankar.
Jyoti Saini, a former director of Uttar Haryana Bijli Nigam and former councilor from 2017 to 2022, has been made the district president of Kaithal. She is the first woman to hold this position in the district. There were 43 candidates were in the race but majority of them later withdrew their nominations, leaving the final decision to the party leadership.
Similarly, in Karnal the party has picked Praveen Lather. The post of the Karnal district president had fallen vacant last year after the party fielded Yogendra Rana from assembly segment.
In Bhiwani, Virendra Kaushik has been given the responsibility as district president.
In Ateli, BJP has appointed Yatendra Rao as the district president. He has been associated with the party for over two decades and was a strong contender for an assembly ticket in 2024 but was not selected. On Sunday, 43 applications were received for the Mahendragarh district president post, but Rao was finally chosen on Monday.
Vikas Valmiki, a senior BJP leader, has been appointed as the district president. He has been active in the party for over 20 years and previously served as the BJP’s state spokesperson and a nominated municipal councilor. In Sirsa, advocate Yatendra Singh Advocate has been appointed as district president. BJP has strategically chosen him to strengthen its support among the Other Backward Classes (OBC). He previously served as district president and was also a member of the Indian Railways Passenger Services Committee. The party has appointed Ashok Bhardwaj as district president of Sonipat, while Bijendra Malik, has been appointed in Gohana. Bhardwaj is the vice chairman of Kundli Municipality and Malik is the former vice chairman of Sonipat District Council.
The newly appointed district presidents have thanked the party leadership and pledged to work on the ground to strengthen the party. Party workers celebrated and supporters celebrated the announcement at the BJP office in Panchkula.