Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president J.P. Nadda on July 29 effected a reshuffle of the national team of office bearers of the party, dropping two general secretaries while adding former Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) vice chancellor Tariq Mansoor as vice president and new recruit Anil Antony, son of former Defence Minister A.K. Antony as national secretary.
The rejig, while having the meta narrative of a team being set up to face the upcoming Assembly polls in five States and the General Elections of 2024, is notable more for the smaller messages it contains.
General secretaries
In the operationally important section of the organisation — the list of general secretaries — there have been two notable deletions, that of Karnataka leader C.T. Ravi, and Lok Sabha member from Assam Dilip Saikia. It is being said that Mr Saikia’s deletion from the list has been compensated for by the appointment of Kamakhya Prasad Tasa as national secretary and the face of the vulnerable tea tribes there. Mr Ravi’s exclusion has evoked mixed reactions. While it is seen a response to the BJP’s big defeat in Karnataka, including his own loss after being a four-term MLA, Mr. Ravi has powerful mentors in New Delhi and therefore nothing can be definitely said about him being dropped and his future in State politics.
Telangana MP and former State unit president Bandi Sanjay Kumar has been appointed as a general secretary, a consolation prize as he lost his presidentship of Telangana BJP to Union Minister G. Kishan Reddy just ahead of Assembly polls in the State.
An interesting addition to the list of general secretaries is Radha Mohan Agrawal, a Rajya Sabha MP from Uttar Pradesh, one of the two new faces on the list from a total of nine general secretaries, seven of whom retain their position. Mr Agarwal used to be an MLA in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly representing the Gorakhpur (Urban) seat, which is now represented by Shief Minister Yogi Adityanath.
National secretaries
The list of national secretaries saw the most interesting additions and deletions, with Lok Sabha members Vinod Sonkar and Harish Dwivedi along with Sunil Deodhar being dropped. Sources say that Mr Sonkar and Mr Dwivedi, both MPs from Uttar Pradesh, have been asked to get active in their areas, although Mr Dwivedi stock is said to be high in his handling of Bihar as national secretary as well as his constituency work. There is talk that Mr Dwivedi could be in line for a ministership if and when a reshuffle of Union Council of Ministers is effected. Mr Deodhar was handling Andhra Pradesh, which, after the appointment of D. Purandareshwari as State unit president who is not exactly known to share warm relations with Telugu Desam Party (TDP) chief N. Chandrababu Naidu, indicates that the BJP wants a different strategy in the State.
Among those appointed new secretaries are Anil Antony, son of veteran Congress leader A.K. Antony, Rajya Sabha MP Surendra Singh Nagar and Kamakhya Prasad Tasa.
The BJP has long been trying to woo the Christian community in Kerala and Mr Antony’s brand, both as belonging to the community and as son of Mr Antony, was a consideration in his appointment. Mr Nagar is an influential Gurjar leader from western U.P. while Tasa has long been the face of tea tribes in the northeastern State.
Vice-presidents
Tariq Mansoor former vice-chancellor (AMU) was appointed one of the 13 vice presidents of the BJP, with a nod to the Pasmanda Muslim outreach being tried out by the BJP to gain traction among backward Muslims. Along with Kerala leader Abdullah Kutty, he is the second member of the Muslim community appointed party vice-president.
Former Union Minister Radha Mohan Singh, a Lok Sabha MP from Bihar, has been dropped from the post of party vice-president, in his place, former Uttar Pradesh BJP president and Rajya Sabha MP Laxmikant Bajpai has been appointed.
Keeping in mind upcoming Assembly polls in Chattisgarh, former general secretary Saroj Pandey and former minister in the Chattisgarh government Lata Usendi, have been appointed vice presidents
There are 13 vice presidents, nine general secretaries, including B.L. Santhosh as the in-charge of the organisation, and 13 secretaries on the list. Former Chief Ministers Raman Singh, Vasundhara Raje, and Raghubar Das are among the seasoned leaders retained as vice-presidents in the new list. Arun Singh, Kailash Vijayvargiya, Dushyant Kumar Gautam, Tarun Chugh, Sunil Bansal, and Vinod Tawde also continue as general secretaries.
Mr Nadda’s tenure as BJP president was extended in January this year to allow him to be at the helm during the next Lok Sabha polls.
