Reshuffle paves way for new BJP parliamentary board contours
NEW DELHI: The Sunday reshuffle of the Union council of ministers would lead to at least five vacancies in the BJP’s team of national office bearers announced on August 16.
The composition of the allpowerful parliamentary board of the party — the BJP’s highest decision-making body — would also have to be tweaked following JP Nadda’s elevation as a cabinet minister.
The Bharatiya Janata Party’s national general secretaries — Nadda, a member of the Rajya Sabha, Saran member of Parliament Rajiv Pratap Rudy and Agra MP Ram Shankar Katheria — would have to quit the party posts in line with the ‘one man one post’ principle.
The party’s constitution provides for the appointment of a maximum of nine general secretaries. The exit of Nadda, Rudy and Katheria would leave the party with four general secretaries — Ram Madhav, Bhupendra Yadav, Saroj Pandey and P Murlidhar Rao.
BJP Yuva Morcha chief Anurag Thakur, who missed out on a ministerial berth, and party spokesman Syed Shahnawaz Hussain, a leader from Bihar, were in contention to get a promotion in organisation. Varun Gandhi, who was dropped as general secretary, was said to be in contention for an organisational job.
Nadda was the lone BJP general secretary in the party’s parliamentary board and the leadership
THE PARTY MAY HAVE TO TAKE A CALL ON DROPPING AN EXISTING MEMBER OF THE PARLIAMENTARY BOARD, WHICH HAS 11 MEMBERS
would have to find a replacement. One of the general secretaries has to officiate as the secretary of the BJP parliamentary board. Sources claim Ram Madhav, a former RSS pracharak, could be brought in to fill the post.
The problem that the party may, however, face is taking the tough call of dropping an existing member of the board, which already has 11 members — the maximum that can be accommodated.
Out of 11 BJP vice-presidents, Rajya Sabha MP Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi and Secundarabad MP Bandaru Dattatrey have been inducted as ministers of state. Not more than 13 leaders can be appointed as party vice-presidents. “It looks like they will have to quit the party assignment. Their replacement will be announced at an appropriate time,” a BJP leader said.
All three general secretaries, inducted in the council of ministers, were on October 21 given charge of key states. Rudy was appointed in-charge of Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu while Nadda was given charge of Maharashtra and Rajasthan and Katheria was given charge of Chhattisgarh and Punjab. Nadda, Rudy and Katheria may have to leave these organisational responsibilities too.