BJP new team includes Muslim OBC leader Tariq Mansoor

BJP president Nitin Nabin's new national team includes two Muslim leaders from Uttar Pradesh: former Aligarh Muslim University vice-chancellor Professor Tariq Mansoor as a national vice-president, and Kunwar Basit Ali as president of the party's Minority Morcha. ABP Live reports that Mansoor, an OBC Muslim, joined the BJP in 2023 and is seen as part of a strategy to expand the party's appeal among Muslim and OBC voters in the politically crucial state.

The Deccan Herald notes that eight leaders from Uttar Pradesh, where assembly elections are due next year, have been given key organisational roles. Other UP appointments include Smriti Irani and Harish Dwivedi as general secretaries, and Amarpal Maurya as head of the OBC Morcha. State BJP sources said the team aims to counter the Samajwadi Party's PDA (pichda, Dalit, alpsankhyak) formula.

The BJP's 2024 Lok Sabha tally in Uttar Pradesh fell from 64 seats to 33. The appointments are a test of whether such outreach will translate into wider Muslim and OBC voter support.