The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) announced a new team nine months after the party appointed JP Nadda as its new chairman, comprising 12 vice-presidents, eight general secretaries, three national joint secretaries and 13 secretaries, with almost 60% of new office holders.
Members of Parliament in Rajya Sabha Saroj Pandey and Anil Jain, and Ram Madhav and P Muralidhar Rao have been removed as national secretaries-general, but their exclusion has sparked speculation about an upcoming cabinet shakeup, and some of them will be accommodated.
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The changes have seen the appointment of party officials from the states of Bihar, West Bengal and Kerala for elections in key roles, a clear indication that the changes are being made with a view to the next assembly elections.
“An effort has been made to ensure that there is representation from all regions of the country, from the northeast to the southern states. In keeping with the BJP’s concerted attempt to provide youth with more opportunities; the average age of this team is much lower than previous teams, ”said a match official who asked not to be named.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted his congratulations to the team and said: “I am confident that you will uphold the glorious tradition of our Party of serving the people of India selflessly and with dedication. May they work hard to empower the poor and marginalized. ”
The new team includes MP Dushyant Kumar Gautam, a Dalit leader, D Purandeswari from Andhra Pradesh, CT Ravi, an MLA from Karnataka, Tarun Chugh from Punjab and Dilip Saikia an MP from Assam on the list of national secretaries general. They are all new entrants.
Kailash Vijayvargia, Bhupender Yadav and Arun Singh have been hired as national secretaries general.
Among those discarded, while Madhav was in charge of the northeastern states and Jammu and Kashmir, Rao was in charge of Karnataka and Rajasthan. Pandey and Jain were in charge of Maharashtra and Haryana.
“New faces have been given a chance; The removal of some names from the list of national secretaries general does not imply a fall in favor, ”said a second BJP official who asked not to be named.
The BJP also announced the appointment of Rajesh Aggarwal, a former Uttar Pradesh cabinet minister, as party treasurer; the post had been vacant since 2014 after incumbent Piyush Goyal was appointed as a minister in Narendra Modi’s cabinet. Sudhir Gupta, a MP from Madhya Pradesh, where several seats in the assembly are available for by-elections, will be the joint treasurer.
There are several additions to the list of national vice presidents, including West Bengal leader Mukul Roy. The appointment of Roy, a former TMC leader, has dispelled speculation that he will part ways with the BJP in the electoral fate state where friction within party unity has become a concern for the central leadership. However, Roy’s appointment prompted Rahul Sinha, who was removed from the team to post a video to express his disappointment. A person familiar with developments in the state said the changes have created friction in the state unit, as both Roy and Anupam Hazra, who has been appointed national secretary, are former leaders of TMC.
Former Chattisgarh CM Raman Singh and former Rajasthan CM Vasundhara Raje remain National Vice Presidents, as does Baijayant Panda.
Nadda is expected to announce shortly the states who will be in charge of the party’s general secretaries. This will be followed by appointments of officers at the state level.
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