Pillai is Kerala BJP chief; Deodhar elevated

NEW DELHI: BJP president Amit Shah on Monday appointed PS Sreedharan Pillai as the party’s Kerala chief and elevated Sunil Deodhar, credited for playing an important role in its massive win in Tripura polls, as national secretary.

Deodhar, who was the party’s in-charge for Tripura, has been made co-incharge for Andhra Pradesh, where the Lok Sabha and assembly elections are scheduled to be held together next year, according to a party statement.

His reported strained relations with Tripura Chief Min- ister Biplab Kumar Deb have led to speculation whether the party leadership is shifting him out of Tripura by assigning him new responsibility. Sources close to Deb have accused him of working against him.

The party also appointed former Scheduled Castes ‘morcha’ head Dushyant Kumar Gautam as vice president in the organisation, the statement said, adding Y Satya Kumar has been made national secretary.

In other appointments, Shah made former Kerala BJP chief and Rajya Sabha member V Muraleedharan as Andhra in-charge.

Pillai will replace Kummanam Rajasekharan, who was appointed by the Union government as Mizoram governor in May after he was seen to be unable to take all party factions together in a state where Shah has nursed high hopes.

While Rajasekharan was seen as a Hindutva hardliner, Pillai, also a former state party president, is considered a moderate and somebody who can unite the party ahead of the Lok Sabha polls.