BJP names chiefs for Kerala, Sikkim, Madhya Pradesh

NEWDELHI: The Bharatiya Janata Party, which has set in motion the process of an organisation rejig, appointed the presidents of three state units on Saturday.

While K Surendran has been given charge of the Kerala unit, Lok Sabha MP from Khajuraho will be head the party in Madhya Pradesh and Dal Bahadur Chauhan was given a second term as the Sikkim unit chief.

The top post in Kerala was vacant after Sreedharan Pillai was appointed Mizoram Governor last year. A state general secretary till recently, Surendran’s appointment comes ahead of the Kerala local body election later this year and the assembly polls in 2021. In Kerala, the BJP is fighting a pitched battle against the LDF government.

In MP, Sharma replaced Rakesh Singh, under whose watch the party contested the assembly polls but failed to retain control of the state. During his tenure, the party unit faced allegations of friction between the various groups that has emerged.

Sharma is an old RSS hand and credited for strengthening the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), the students’ wing of the RSS, in the state in 1990s.

“The Kamal Nath-led government has made a mess of Madhya Pradesh. Strong and capable workers of the BJP would give a befitting reply to it for the rampant mismanagement...,” he told reporters in Khajuraho.

Chauhan who will lead the party till 2023 in Sikkim played a key role in strengthening the party in the state where it won two assembly bypolls.

THE TOP POST IN KERALA WAS VACANT AFTER SREEDHARAN PILLAI WAS APPOINTED MIZORAM GOVERNOR LAST YEAR