13 leaders from Madhya Pradesh on Amit Shah's bandwagon

In all, 13 Bharatiya Janata Party leaders from Madhya Pradesh have found place in the rejigged national party executive announced by BJP chief Amit Shah on Thursday.

In all, 13 Bharatiya Janata Party leaders from Madhya Pradesh have found place in the rejigged national party executive announced by BJP chief Amit Shah on Thursday.

The only one who has been dropped from this team is Union minister Najma Heptullah, who represents Madhya Pradesh in the Rajya Sabha.

Those who got into the executive include union ministers Narendra Singh Tomar, Thawar Chand Gehlot, Rajya Sabha MP Anil Madhav Dave, Lok Sabha MP Prahlad Patel and state minister Kailash Vijayvargiya.

Besides this, four BJP leaders who have been inducted are former chief ministers. They are Kailash Joshi, Sunderlal Patwa, Babulal Gaur and Uma Bharti.

Chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan finds his place as a permanent invitee and legislator Jaibhan Singh Pawaiyya as a special invitee. Two Rajya Sabha MPs from Madhya Pradesh, though from other states, namely Chandan Mitra and Prakash Javadekar, are also on the 178-member strong body.

However, there has been some resentment in Indore over state minister Kailash Vijayvargiya’s induction. The party members felt he should have been given a larger role, considering his organizational skills and a key role in the party’s resounding victory in the Haryana elections.

Former MLA Jitu Jirati said, "It's an honour to be party's national executive member but he deserved something better." Bharatiya Janata Party's Indore vice-president Ramdas Garg too expressed his resentment by saying, "Only a member."

Vijayvargiya sounded cheerful over the phone. However, political analysts said that his rivalry with Indore MP and Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan prevented him from becoming party general secretary.

Sources said he had risen as the second most powerful politician in Madhya Pradesh after chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan.

Vijayvargiya has been made national executive member for the second time.