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BJP likely to appoint new chiefs in five states
The state chiefs will be appointed after the national BJP president is appointed in place of J P Nadda, who was appointed as the Union health minister on Monday
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is likely to appoint new state presidents in Gujarat, Telangana and West Bengal, where the incumbents have been inducted into the Union council of ministers, according to people aware of the developments. There is also a possibility of change in state chiefs in Tamil Nadu and Rajasthan, where the party performed well below expectations.
The state chiefs will be appointed after the national BJP president is appointed in place of J P Nadda, who was appointed as the Union health minister on Monday, a functionary said, declining to be named. It is not certain when the new national president will be elected.
Gujarat’s BJP president and four-time MP C R Patil has been inducted into Union cabinet ; his term as state president has ended a few months ago and he was asked to continue till end of the Lok Sabha polls.
A new state president will be appointed within a month, a party leader in Gujarat said, seeking anonymity. An OBC leader may be appointed as BJP seems to be losing traction among them, this person added. For instance, the Congress party’s Geniben Thakor, hailing from the influential Thakor community of the OBCs, emerged victorious against her BJP rival Rekhaben Chaudhary, becoming the first Congress Lok Sabha MP from the state since 2009.
Among the names doing the rounds are those of OBC leaders Jagdish Vishwakarma, a junior minister with independent charge in the Bhupendra Patel-led state government, and Purnesh Modi, a three-time MLA and a prominent OBC face in Gujarat. Purnesh Modi’s defamation lawsuit led to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s conviction by a Gujarat court.
Devusinh Chauhan, a sitting MP from Kheda who served as a junior communications minister in the previous Narendra Modi government but was not included in the latest cabinet, is also being considered for the post of Gujarat BJP president, party leaders said.
In Telangana, state president Kishan Reddy, who has been inducted into the Union council of ministers, could be replaced by MP Eatala Rajender, an OBC leader who joined the party about five years ago. According to BJP leaders, Rajender, who was in New Delhi on Monday, met Union home minister Amit Shah. He has asked to be appointed as state president as he did not find a place in the Union cabinet, a state leader said on condition of anonymity.
In West Bengal, state BJP president Sukanta Majumdar, who won a seat in the Lok Sabha, has been inducted as a minister at the Centre. State BJP leaders are expecting a new BJP president and there is a speculation the party may opt for a leader who can take everyone along. Majumdar was accused of not taking veteran party leaders into confidence on major policy decisions and the party’s state unit has been riven by infighting.
In Rajasthan, the party is looking at a major reorganization as the BJP secured only 14 of the 25 Lok Sabha seats, a significant drop from the clean sweep of all 25 seats in both the 2014 and 2019 elections. State president CP Joshi, who is an MP, is likely to replaced. The names being considered for the new state chief include Rajya Sabha MP Rajendra Gehlot, Kuldeep Dhankar, the party’s Jat face, Madan Rathore and former leader of opposition Rajendra Rathore, according to party leaders who requested anonymity.
In Tamil Nadu, amid friction between supporters former state BJP chief Tamilisai Soundararajan and state chief K Annamalai, there is speculation that the party may well be looking for a new state chief. A section of state BJP leaders are demanding- that Annamalai be sacked, accusing him of breaking the tie-up with the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, affecting the party’s chances in the state.The INDIA bloc, led by the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam swept the state, and the BJP did not even see the expected increase in vote share.
