In a major change of guard before the state Assembly polls due in September, the BJP has appointed revenue minister Chandrakant Patil as the Maharashtra unit president. BJP MLA Mangal Prabhat Lodha will head the Mumbai wing of the party. Patil will replace Raosaheb Danve Patil, who is a MP from Jalna in Marathwada, and has been appointed as a Union minister of state in the Narendra Modi-led cabinet. He denied he was initially not eager to take charge of the BJP's Maharashtra unit. Lodha, who is an MLA from Malabar Hill in south Mumbai, will take over as the Mumbai BJP chief from Ashish Shelar.

Source: dna July 17, 2019 00:45 UTC