The Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) on Monday announced appointments of Party Unit presidents for Gujarat and Ladakh.

The BJP President JP Nadda appointed CR Patil — three-time Member of Parliament from Gujarat as the Party President for the State unit replacing Jitu Vaghani after completion of his term.

For Ladakh, the BJP has appointed young, first-time MP from the newly-carved out Union Territory, Jamyang Tsering Namgyal as the Party President for Ladakh BJP.

The appointments come into force with immediate effect, an announcement from the Party said.

For Gujarat, the appointment of Pati - a strong Marathi face in South Gujarat has come as a surprise to the political circles in the State after many believed the incumbent Vaghani to be retained till the completion of the by-polls and the local body elections in Eight Municipal Corporations scheduled for later this year. Also, a section of State BJP leaders were expecting Vaghani — a strong Gujarati Patidar face — to be given a second term as State chief after party's good show in the Lok Sabha polls in 2019.

But insiders believe that Vaghani’s replacement with the appointment of Patil has come as setback for the influential Gujarati Patidar community.

Patil has been associated with BJP since 1989 and was elected to the Lok Sabha first time in 2009. Since then he has retained his Lok Sabha seat for three consecutive terms.

In Ladakh, after an unceremonious exit of incumbent BJP Unit Chief Chering Dorjay in May, the Party appointed young first-time MP Jamyang Tsering Namgyal as the President for Ladakh BJP.

Dorjay had accused the BJP and the Ladakh UT administration of insensitivity in dealing with evacuation of stranded citizens in different parts of India amid Covid-19-induced lockdown.

The newly-elected party chief Namgyal has been vocal in the Parliament about the issues faced by the Ladakhi people on ground.

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