The Bharatiya Janata Party on Tuesday night announced key positions in the its Uttar Pradesh unit, and named 2013 Muzaffarnagar riots accused Suresh Rana among them. Rana, an MLA from Shamli, will be one of 15 party vice presidents in the state, who are led by UP BJP chief Keshav Prasad Maurya. Rana was arrested under the National Security Act for inciting mob violence in the Muzaffarnagar and sent to police custody. He was later granted bail.

Other state vice presidents named on Tuesday include Dharampal Singh, Satpal Singh, Shiv Pratap Shukla and Gopal Tandon. The party also named eight general secretaries, including state spokesperson Vijay Bahadur Pathak, and 15 secretaries. The state will hold its Assembly elections in 2017.