Union Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary on Saturday filed his nomination papers for the post of the Uttar Pradesh BJP chief, and was the only candidate to do so, party sources said. A party officebearer confirmed the development and told PTI that this paves the way for him to get elected unopposed. Chaudhary submitted the papers to former Union minister and BJP state election officer Mahendra Nath Pandey and central election observer Vinod Tawde. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, Deputy Chief Ministers Keshav Prasad Maurya and Brajesh Pathak and Jal Shakti Minister Swatantra Dev Singh were also present for the submission, party sources said. In a post on X, Chaudhary said, "Upon arriving at Lucknow airport today, I received a warm welcome from the dedicated party workers. I express my heartfelt gratitude to all the workers for the affection and respect they showed me." Pandey told PTI on Friday that the next state president of the party would be announced