In Team Nadda, Tejasvi Surya Becomes BJP's Yuva Morcha Chief, Ram Madhav Dropped as Gen Secy

In a major overhaul within the ranks of Bharatiya Janata Party, BJP national president Jagat Prakash Nadda on Saturday shuffled top posts with a few names being dropped and some new faces being introduced from states where the party is trying to develop the leadership.

Almost nine months after taking charge as BJP president, Nadda has appointed his team of office bearers that has brought in sweeping changes in the organisation by dropping four out of seven party general secretaries.

Chhattisgarh MP Saroj Pandey has been replaced as general secretary by D Purandeshwari — NT Rama Rao’s daughter who had earlier served as a minister in Manmohan Singh government. Her appointment is an indication of BJP’s attempts to consolidate itself in Andhra Pradesh.

Ram Madhav (the RSS leader who was drafted into the BJP), Murlidhar Rao (in-charge of the southern states) and Anil Jain were also replaced with leaders from states to maintain regional and caste balance to maximise BJP’s outreach in states where party is seeking to consolidate itself.

Tarun Chug from Punjab has also been brought in as general secretary. Appointment of Chug, CT Ravi and Dilip Saikia indicate party’s willingness to experiment with new faces to maintain regional and caste balance.

Ravi is an MP from Karnataka belonging to dominant Vokkaliga caste. Saikia is an MP from Assam, while Chug come from Punjab. His appointment comes in the wake Akalis deciding to quit NDA government on the issue of farmers bill.

Bhupendra Yadav, Arun Singh and Kailash Vijayvargiya have retained their post as general secretaries. Dalit leader Dushyant Gautam is also a new entry to the group of seven general secretaries.

Nadda has decided to continue with the team of RSS pracharak’s on deputation to the BJP for organisational work. BL Santosh remains Organisational General Secretary. So will V Satish, Saudan Singh and Shivprakash as joint general secretary organisation.

Other prominent names that figure in the list of 13 national secretaries are Maharashtra’s Vinod Tawade, UP’s Vinod Sonkar, and Maharashtra’s Pankaja Munde. Former Union minister Gopinath Munde’s daughter Pankaja has also been appointed the national secretary of the party.

Nadda has also drafted in a new team of Vice Presidents dropping some important faces like Vinay Sahastrabuddhe, Prabhat Jha and Om Mathur, while bringing in three former CMs Vasundhara Raje, Raman Singh and Raghubar Das. Mukul Roy, has been promoted as VP in view of the upcoming West Bengal assembly polls.

After a long gap, BJP has appointed Rajesh Agarwal from UP as its national treasurer. The post was lying vacant after Piyush Goel’s nomination to the Union cabinet.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi also congratulated the new office bearers, and said he is confident that the appointed leaders will uphold the “glorious tradition of the party”.

Union Home Minister and Nadda’s predecessor Amit Shah said that “BJP is not a party but an idea” while congratulating the new team members.

“Best wishes to all newly-appointed national officials. BJP is not just a party but an idea, which is constantly moving for the welfare of every class. I believe this new team under the guidance of Narendra Modi and Nadda’s leadership will strengthen this idea even further,” Shah said in a tweet.

Young turks have been given special chances in Team Nadda. Karnataka MP Tejasvi Surya is now BJP’s new Yuva Morcha head. Anil Baluni, in spite of his health issues, will continue to head the media section, while Sanjay Mayukh will remain as his deputy.

From poll-bound Bihar Syed Shahnawaz Hussain and Rajiv Pratap Rudy — both former ministers and articulate debaters — have been chosen as national spokespersons. Tom Vadakkan who switched to the BJP from Congress will be BJP’s spokesman from Kerala.