State BJP chief appoints new executive committee for Maharashtra

State Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief Chandrakant Patil on Friday announced the new executive committee for Maharashtra, even as he clarified that former minister

State Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief Chandrakant Patil on Friday announced the new executive committee for Maharashtra, even as he clarified that former minister and Other Backward Class (OBC) leader Pankaja Munde would be given a “national role” in the party.

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The jumbo state executive includes 12 vice-presidents, five general secretaries, 12 secretaries, a treasurer, an organisational secretary and 68 executive committee members. Besides, there are another 139 invitees and 58 special invitees.

Munde, daughter of senior BJP leader, the late Gopinath Munde, who lost the state Assembly polls last year, was said to be sulking and had post results pointed to internal factionalism and centralisation of powers within the state unit. “Pankaja Munde is set to get a role at the national level soon. This was indicated to us by the Centre. She will also continue to be a part of our state core committee and work side by side with us,” said Patil, at a press conference in Mumbai. “The state executive has been formed after much deliberation and aims to ensure fair regional and community representation to all our party leaders.”

The new organisational announcement has been pending since Patil was appointed the state chief last July.

The new state executive committee is a bid to accommodate a majority of its established leadership, including those who had been sidelined last year ahead of the polls.

But the key positions like appointments of general secretaries shows that leader of Opposition Devendra Fadnavis continues to call the shots in the party organisation.

Chandrashekhar Bawankule, a former minister from Vidarbha, who had been denied state assembly ticket and is said to have cost the party vis-a-vis seats in the region, has been rehabilitated as one of the five general secretaries. The other general secretaries include two-time Nashik legislator Devyani Farande, Sujitsigh Thakur (second stint), former state minister Ravindra Chavan and former officer on special duty to chief minister, Shrikant Bharatiya.

Other sidelined senior leaders like Vinod Tawde and Eknath Khadse who were also denied tickets have been accommodated, but only as special invitees to the executive committee. Khadse’s daughter-in-law Raksha Khadse has been named the state secretary, while Munde’s sister Pritam Munde has been made a vice-president. The other vice-presidents include former ministers Ram Shinde (who lost polls), Jaykumar Rawal, former chief spokesperson Madhav Bhandari, Prasad Lad, Suresh Halwankar etc.

The party has also given a leg-up to former media incharge and spokesperson Keshav Upadhayay as the chief spokesperson of the state BJP.

BJP MLA from Mulund Mihir Kotecha is the new treasurer of the party, while the organisational secretary post continues to be with Vijay Puranik.

“An overall assessment of the state executive shows a clear imprint of Fadnavis, who has ensured people close to him are given relevant posts. But it’s also a balancing act to not alienate anyone,’’ said a senior party leader and state functionary.