BJP effects cosmetic organisational changes; cloud over Cabinet expansion
By Manish Anand
New Delhi, July 29: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Saturday carried out cosmetic changes in its organisational rejig by drafting new faces to send out messages to target communities for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
The BJP confirmed on Saturday that the party sticks to status quoist approach by negating all the buzz about the big names from the council of ministers joining the party ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. The announcement of the organisational rejig with minor changes also possibly rule out scope for the expansion or reshuffle of the council of ministers headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The BJP on Saturday drafted a few faces in its national team with an intent to send out messages to the Pasmanda Muslims, tribal, and Christians. The BJP has also retained most of the existing members of the national organisation, and only filled vacancies caused by the shuffling of the members who have been assigned charges in the state units.
Tariq Mansoor, member of the legislative council of Uttar Pradesh, has come into the BJP national office bearers as a vice president amid the saffron outfit making a bold pitch for acceptance among the Pasmanda (a group of castes among the Muslims, who are said to be converts in India).
It may be recalled that the BJP had fielded a large number of Pasmanda Muslims in the local body polls this year, and many of them won also which gave hoped to the saffron outfit that the party can build on a new electoral constituency. Abdulla Kutty, the lone Muslim face in the national office bearer of the BJP, has retained his position as the party vice president.
Sanjay Bandi, the Lok Sabha MP, has been adjusted in the national office bearers of the BJP as a general secretary after he was replaced by Union Minister G Kishan Reddy as the chief of the Telangana unit. This comes as a consolation for Bandi, who had faced internal rebellion in the Telangana unit of the BJP, leading to his ouster from the state. Radhamohan Agarwal, the Lok Sabha MP from UP, also has been drafted in the national office bearers team as the general secretary.
Anil Antony, son of Congress leader A K Antony, has been drafted in as the national secretary of the party. He, a Christian, hails from Kerala. The BJP in the recent months had made outreach to the Christian groups in Kerala.
Lata Usendi, a tribal leader from Chhattisgarh, has been appointed the vice president of the BJP. Along with Raman Singh, ex-Chief Minister, Chhtitisgarh, which is headed for Assembly election, now has two vice presidents in the BJP.
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