- BJP announced a new team under national chief Nitin Nabin before state elections
- Smriti Irani returns as national general secretary in a key organisational role
- Many women appointed to key roles in the BJP across the nation
The BJP today announced its fresh team under its national chief Nitin Nabin ahead of elections in many states. There is a strong focus on regional representation with a mix of seasoned leaders and younger faces taking charge of key posts.
A big development is the return of former Union minister Smriti Irani to a core organisational role as one of the national general secretaries of the BJP. Former Rajasthan chief minister Vasundhara Raje continues as BJP's national vice president.
Six of the 13 national vice presidents are women, indicating a push for more representation of women in the party's core roles. There are also four women secretaries and a woman general secretary, apart from two from the Muslim community.
The appointments indicate a push towards the southern and eastern states, with leaders from Kerala, West Bengal, Odisha and the northeast receiving prominent secretary and vice-president positions.
Sandeep Pathak, who quit the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), has been made national secretary. Sambit Patra has been appointed coordinator for the northeast region.
In the list of the BJP's national vice presidents, apart from Raje, the other big names are Tirath Singh Rawat from Uttarakhand, Ram Madhav from Delhi, Baijayant Jay Panda from Odisha, D Purandeswari from Andhra Pradesh, Rekha Verma from Uttar Pradesh, and Sardar Manpreet Singh Badal from Punjab.
Varshaben Narendrabhai Doshi (Gujarat), Dr Bharati Pravin Pawar (Maharashtra), Lal Singh Arya (Madhya Pradesh), M Nagaraj (Karnataka), Tariq Mansoor (Uttar Pradesh) and Madhuchhanda Kar (West Bengal) are also part of this senior leaders' group.
BL Santhosh continues with his role as national general secretary (organisation) from Delhi, supported by joint general secretaries Shiv Prakash (Mumbai) and Saudan Singh (Chandigarh).
The BJP has tasked Anil Baluni with its communications strategy in the role of media coordinator. He will be assisted by joint coordinators Ashish Usha Agarwal, Pradeep Bhandari and Siddharth Yadav. Deepak Mhaskey has been made social media coordinator, with Priti Gandhi, Shivanand Dwivedi, Alok Bhatt and Arun Yadav helping him as joint coordinators.
The appointments come at a time when political parties are increasingly relying on digital platforms to communicate directly with voters and party workers.
The new team across functions combines experienced leaders who have strong organisational and grassroots experience with a new line of next-generation leaders.
