Will ex-ministers get roles in states, party?

New Delhi: Wednesday’s ministerial council reshuffle, in which 12 faces were dropped from the Union council of ministers, has led to speculation that some of them could be given organisational roles in the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)

New Delhi: Wednesday’s ministerial council reshuffle, in which 12 faces were dropped from the Union council of ministers, has led to speculation that some of them could be given organisational roles in the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

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According to party functionaries aware of the details, some of the former ministers could be offered gubernatorial positions, a few may have roles in the party’s national team, while others are likely to continue as members of Parliament and contribute to party work in their respective states.

“There are a few gubernatorial positions where the incumbents are set to complete their term over the next few months such as in Punjab and Delhi and later in 2022 in states such as Assam and Tamil Nadu. Some of the senior members could be considered for these posts,” said a functionary who asked not to be named.

Thawar Chand Gehlot, 73, one of the senior most leaders who was in charge of the social justice and empowerment ministry and the leader of the House in the Rajya Sabha, was appointed Governor of Karnataka on Tuesday; and there is speculation that two other senior ministers, Prakash Javadekar (70) and Santosh Gangwar (72) may also be elevated as Governors.

“Gangwar is a seasoned party man with considerable influence among the OBCs in Uttar Pradesh, so in the next few months the party is likely to use his expertise in drawing up the election blueprint in the state. Javadekar could also be roped in to help with the state elections coming up in 2022, as he has the experience of being in-charge of state polls,” said a second functionary on condition of anonymity.

However, the functionaries also indicated that Javadekar may be given a role among the party’s national office-bearers.

The people cited above said that the BJP leadership is counting on the organisational experience of some of the senior members to strengthen the organisation and its outreach. “Some of the ex-ministers joining the national team will bring heft to it,” said the first functionary.

Former minister for Law & Justice, Ravi Shankar Prasad, is also among those who may get a position in the national office-bearers team. With the elevation of national general secretary Bhupender Yadav as Cabinet minister, there is a key vacancy in the team of national general secretaries. There are eight national general secretaries in the BJP and, as per the party constitution, there can be nine.

“The party follows the norm of one person, one post. So the slots that will fall vacant in the national team can be filled with the ex-ministers. The party can have 15 national vice presidents and currently there are only 12; with the elevation of Annpurana Devi as minister, the number will now be 11. Similarly, there are 12 national secretaries instead of 15,” said the second functionary.

There was no clarity on whether former health minister Harsh Vardhan will be made a part of the national team, or drafted to help the party unit in Delhi, where the BJP has lost heavily to the Aam Aadmi Party in the last two assembly elections. Vardhan held the position of Delhi unit president in 2014, and was the party’s chief ministerial candidate for that year’s state polls.

Former HRD minister Ramesh Pokhriyal and Sanjay Dhotre, who are said to be in poor health, are expected to be given time to recuperate. While a former minister said it is for the party to take a call on how it wants to use them, the first functionary quoted above said not getting organizational roles, will not mean a “demotion”.

“There is a system of allowing younger and newer people to step ahead. Besides in 2004, after the BJP did not return to power at the centre, seniors who had been ministers such as Arun Jaitley, Pramod Mahajan and Rajnath Singh were included as national general secretaries in M. Venkaiah Naidu’s national team. It is a process,” said the second functionary.

The party will also have to name a new leader of the House in the Rajya Sabha after Gehlot’s elevation. The senior-most leaders in the Upper House, who are in contention for the post are BJP president JP Nadda, and Union ministers Piyush Goyal, Dharmendra Pradhan and Nirmala Sitharaman. “There has been a precedent that the post is given to a Cabinet minister; we will have to see if the party follows that,” said a third functionary.