BJP president Jagat Prakash Nadda made a slew of organisational appointments on Saturday, with Madhya Pradesh and Kerala getting new chiefs. After pushing for continuity in Maharashtra with Chandrakant Dada Patil and Dal Bahadur Chauhan in Sikkim, the appointments in Madhya Pradesh and Kerala mark a change, a delicate balancing act between Mr. Shah’s regime and the new one.
A communique from the BJP’s national headquarters said Khajuraho MP Vishnu Dutt Sharma had been appointed as the president for Madhya Pradesh and K. Surendran for Kerala.
Both Mr. Sharma and Mr. Surendran had been general secretaries in their State units. Mr. Surendran was the BJP’s candidate in the Pathanamthitta Lok Sabha constituency in 2019. While he managed to increase the party vote share, he came third behind Anto Antony of the Congress and Veena George of the LDF. The post had been vacant for the last few months ever since former chief P.S. Sreedharan Pillai had been appointed Governor of Mizoram.
In Madhya Pradesh, Mr. Sharma is widely regarded as the RSS’ choice and has spent most part of his career in the ABVP and the RSS including a stint as organisation mantri for Jharkhand. He came over to the BJP in 2013. His appointment has been a surprise as there was a strong buzz around the continuation of Rakesh Singh, considered close to Mr. Shah.
Mr. Chauhan’s re-appointment is a nod to the fact that it under his tenure the BJP has become a force there with 10 Sikkim Democratic Front MLAs defecting to the party and winning two Assembly bypolls in that period.
