The BJP on Tuesday appointed new party presidents for four states, including Union minister G. Kishan Reddy for poll-bound Telangana, kickstarting an organisational rejig in preparation for the upcoming Assembly and Lok Sabha polls next year.

The appointment of Reddy as party president of Telangana means he is set to be relieved from the government, indicating that a rejig of the Union council of ministers in tandem with organisational changes has been taken up as speculated. More such changes are expected in days to come, party leaders said.

Reddy is the junior minister for culture, tourism and development of the northeastern region and the outgoing Telangana president Bandi Sanjay Kumar may replace him in the government.

The three other appointments were Babulal Marandi as the new party chief of Jharkhand, Sunil Jakhar for Punjab and D. Purandeswari for Andhra Pradesh.

Marandi, who was the first BJP chief minister of Jharkhand, is currently the leader of the Opposition in the state. Jharkhand goes to polls after the Lok Sabha polls next year.

Sunil Jakhar had crossed over to the BJP from the Congress last year. He was also the Punjab president of the Congress and will now take the same role for the BJP. The BJP has a marginal presence in Punjab and appears to be betting on the Congress turncoat to expand.

Similarly, D. Purandeswari, the new Andhra Pradesh president, was a Union minister in the previous UPA government as a Congress member and later joined the BJP. She is the daughter of former Andhra Pradesh chief minister N.T. Rama Rao, founder of Telugu Desam Party. In Andhra too, the BJP is a fringe player and is trying to get some foothold.

The most significant appointment was of Reddy. Telangana goes to the polls later this year and the BJP is desperate to make a mark in the state. After Karnataka, Telangana is the only southern state where the party sees the scope of expanding. The BJP has four Lok Sabha MPs from the state, including Reddy, and 2 MLAs, and is hopeful that it can build on it. The party's defeat in Karnataka, however, is seen to have dealt a blow to its expansion plans in neighbouring Telangana.

Reddy replaces Bandi Sanjay Kumar, against whom complaints surrounding high-handedness had piled up. The party also appointed Etela Rajender, an OBC leader, who had crossed over from the state's ruling Bharat Rashtra Samiti, as chairperson of the party's election management committee. Rajender had frequent run-ins with former state president Kumar.

BJP president J.P. Nadda has called a meeting of the state presidents, state general secretaries and in-charges on July 7 in Delhi to prepare for polls. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to travel to Uttar Pradesh, Telangana, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan on July 7-8 to address rallies after inaugurating and laying foundation stones for development projects.