Nityanand Rai (50), MP from Ujiyarpur - a Lok Sabha seat in north Bihar - on Wednesday replaced Mangal Pandey as the state BJP president.

Mangal's term had got over eight months ago, but the party leadership had kept his replacement in abeyance because of other "pressing" matters.

"We all welcome Nityanand - a relatively young blood - as the party chief," senior party leader Nand Kishore Yadav said.

The outgoing president, Pandey, too extended his full support to his predecessor. "Nityanand is an old friend," Pandey said. "An MLA for four consecutive terms from Hajipur and now an MP from Ujiyarpur, Nityanand is an experienced hand. We are happy that the party has reposed faith in him."

But unlike Pandey, who was believed to be close to senior party leader and former deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi, it is said that the party high command, led by Amit Shah, directly "chose" Nityanand.

Significantly, Nityanand is a Yadav - the single largest caste of Bihar - and hails from north Bihar's Vashali region, a Yadav stronghold that has elected Lalu Prasad's two sons, Tejashwi Yadav and Tej Pratap Yadav, from Raghopur and Mahua Assembly seats respectively.

Both Narendra Modi and Amit Shah have made relentless efforts to make inroads into Lalu's Yadavs bastion since the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. But, so far, the BJP has not succeeded in weaning away the Yadav votes substantially from Lalu who continues to be the undisputed leader for people of his caste.

But the selection of Nityanand as state party chief over an upper caste Brahmin from Siwan (Mangal) suggests that the BJP has not given up on the Yadavs and will continue with its campaign to widen its base among the OBCs, which has Yadavs as its largest caste in Bihar.

Downplaying the caste issue, Nityanand said: "I have travelled to the mainstream politics of the BJP through long stints in the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyathi Parishad and the Yuva Morcha. I will work hard to strengthen the party among the people."