Newly appointed UP BJP chief Bhupendra Chaudhary arrives in Lucknow

Newly appointed Uttar Pradesh BJP president Bhupendra Singh Chaudhary arrived here on Monday to a warm welcome by party workers.

Chaudhary, who reached here from Delhi by Shatabdi train, was accompanied by Union Minister Sanjiv Balyan, former Union minister Mahesh Sharma and several party MPs and MLAs.

BJP workers lined up to welcome the new state unit president from Charbagh railway station to the party office in the Hazratganj area, leading to traffic jams in some places.

The city was decked up with banners, posters and hoardings welcoming Chaudhary.

Chaudhary, who is also the state minister for Panchayati Raj, is likely to resign from the Yogi Adityanath cabinet in line with the BJP's policy of one person, one post, party sources said.

Chaudhary's appointment is being seen as an attempt by the BJP to counter the challenge posed by the SP-RLD combine in western Uttar Pradesh and to reach out to the influential Jat community that was at the forefront of the year-long farmers' protest against the three contentious farm laws.