BJP organisational reshuffle: Old ABVP hand, Dharampal replaces Sunil Bansal in Uttar Pradesh

Dharampal, who was the general secretary (organisation) of Jharkhand for the the past five years, hails from Bijnor district in west UP. He joined ABVP in 1990 as a full-time worker and worked as its joint zonal organisation secretary for UP and Uttarakhand.

During the 2017 Assembly elections, RSS engaged him in UP to run the ABVP’s voter-centric campaign in the state. After the polls, the BJP appointed him general secretary (organisation) of Jharkhand in July 2017.

During the 2020 Bihar Assembly polls, he was given the responsibility of the party’s poll management work for nearly half of the constituencies. He was also sent to Assam in 2021.

“Dharampal ji has worked as ABVP organisation secretary in UP. Since he has worked here, he is connected with the people here. The party will benefit from his experience,” said state BJP vice-president and member of Legislative Council, Vijay Bahadur Pathak.

The role of the general secretary (organisation) or sangathan mahamantri is considered to be crucial in any BJP unit as they are RSS appointees in the party. If the BJP is in power in any state, the party general secretary (organisation) is supposed to play the key role of a communicator between the RSS and the government, while being a part of the party and the government’s core group.