Patel replaces Vemuri as OFBJP-US

OFBJP-US president, Subrahmanyam Vemuri was replaced by Chandra Kant Patel, known party hardliner and close to RSS, writes Lalit K Jha.

The Overseas Friends of Bharatiya Janata Party in the United States (OFBJP-US) has changed its leadership mid-term. Still nearly two and half years left to his second three-year term as OFBJP-US president, Subrahmanyam Vemuri from Illinois was replaced by Chandra Kant Patel, known party hardliner and considered close to Rashtriya Swyamsevak Sangh (RSS), at the annual national executive committee meeting held at Chicago over the weekend (June 18-19).

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Vemuri was elected as the OFBJP-US president for the first time in 2002 and was reelected in November 2004 for his second three-year term till December 2007.

Even as Vemuri told this correspondent that he resigned because he "felt" he had accomplished whatever he had targeted for himself, it is understood that he put in papers as a result of some strong resentment brewing against him and the "impression" gaining ground among the OFBJP-US members and some of its leaders that there was immediate need for the party to be more effective in the United States.

"Patel is dynamic and very resourceful. He loves traveling. He has expressed his desire to tour the entire nation (U.S.) to open more chapters and bring in more and more people to the OFBJP fold," Dinesh Agrawal, the former president, said.

At present the OFBJP-US has ten chapters in the United States, New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Houston, Chicago, Washington, Atlanta and Tampa, many of which are considered to be weak. During his tenure, Vemuri opened five chapters.

In his first media reaction, Patel said that his first step would be to constitute strong organisational machinery, which is vibrant and dynamic and help in rejuvenating the OFBJP-U.S.

"I would carry forward, from where Vimuri left," said Patel, who was the OFBJP-U.S. vice president under Vimuri. The new team is expected to be constituted within the next one month.

"My main goal would be to initiate steps to glorify BJP in the United States and to work towards those measures to bring the party back to power in India," he said.

BLUE PRINT FOR BJP'S REVIVAL IN INDIA

Even though, one wonders, how much their views would be heard back home by the top BJP leadership, the OFBJP-U.S. at its meeting held marathon sessions over the weekend to prepare a blue print for the party's revival and the road map for it coming back to power in India.

As the new president, Patel would be taking these recommendations and resolutions of the OFBJP-U.S. national executive to the central party leadership during his trip to India in July.

"Going back to our distinct ideological roots and fundamental values, which we had to leave aside during the rule of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) due to coalition dharma, should be the focal point of the BJP now," Agrawal observed in his power point presentation at the meeting.

Expressing concern over the various contradictory statements coming from senior leaders of the Sangh Parivaar – BJP, VHP and RSS --, the national executive is believed to have urged the leaders in India to adopt a more coordinated approach as their current behaviour was only resulting in "confusing" the common party worker.

Another power point presentation, analyzed in detail the performance of the BJP in the Opposition in the past one year, while the third one dealt in detail the causes of BJP's defeat in the 2004 elections.

"We did a critical appraisal of all these issues for each State and the nation as a whole also," Vimuri observed.