Patna, Dec 16: The Bharatiya Janata Party on Monday appointed senior leader and six-time MLA Sanjay Saraogi as the new president of its Bihar unit. He replaces Dilip Kumar Jaiswal, who currently serves as the state’s Industry Minister.
Announcing the decision, BJP national general secretary Arun Singh said in a notification that party national president Jagat Prakash Nadda had appointed Saraogi as the Bihar BJP president with immediate effect.
Saraogi, a prominent leader from Darbhanga, is a six-time MLA from the Darbhanga Sadar Assembly constituency and a former minister in the Bihar government. He is currently serving as the Minister of Revenue and Land Reforms, a post he has held since February 2025.
Born on August 28, 1969, in Darbhanga, Saraogi began his political journey through student politics and remained associated with the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) for nearly a decade. He later held several organisational positions in the BJP and its youth wing. In 1999, he became district secretary of the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha, and in 2001, he was appointed president of the Darbhanga City Mandal BJP. He was elected as a councillor of the Darbhanga Municipal Corporation in 2002 and served as general secretary of the district BJP in 2003.
Saraogi entered the Bihar Legislative Assembly for the first time in February 2005 after defeating RJD candidate Mohammad Mumtaz from Darbhanga Sadar. He retained the seat in October 2005 and has since won the constituency six consecutive times, in 2005 (February and October), 2010, 2015, 2020 and 2025. In the latest Assembly elections, he defeated Vikassheel Insaan Party candidate Umesh Sahani by a margin of over 24,000 votes.
In 2017, Saraogi served as chairman of the Estimates Committee of the Bihar Legislative Assembly. He has also been the convenor of the BJP’s Bihar State Cow Protection Cell and a member of the party’s state executive committee. He holds postgraduate degrees in Commerce and Business Administration and belongs to the Vaishya community.
Saraogi’s appointment comes a day after Bihar minister Nitin Nabin was elevated as the BJP’s national working president. Party insiders said the move signals a return to the BJP’s core Vaishya leadership base in the state. In recent years, leaders from the community, including Sanjay Jaiswal and Dilip Jaiswal, have held the post of state president.
Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary welcomed the appointment and congratulated Saraogi, expressing confidence that the party organisation in the state would gain fresh energy and momentum under his leadership.
