In clear indication of the importance the BJP is attaching to Tamil Nadu, Union Minister of State (Independent charge) for Power, Piyush Goyal, has been roped in to oversee the party’s preparations for 2016 Assembly elections.
Mr. Goyal will make his first visit to the State as party in-charge on April 15, BJP sources said.
The appointment was made after deliberations at the national executive meeting in Bengaluru.
A senior BJP leader said Mr. Goyal’s appointment was significant given his background in the party. Considered very close to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Mr. Goyal played a pivotal role in Mr. Modi’s 2014 Lok Sabha campaign as the Communication Campaign Committee head. He had also served as the national treasurer of the BJP like his father and senior leader Ved Prakash Goyal.
A Rajya Sabha member, he was given crucial portfolios of Power and Coal after the BJP won a majority in the elections.
“If there is one person who knows how to run an election campaign, it is Mr. Goyal. Among the States going to elections in 2016, our organisation is the weakest here. So it is no surprise they have chosen such a strong candidate,” a senior leader said. Mr. Goyal will also act as a bridge between the Union government and the Tamil Nadu BJP.
Already, the party’s State unit has been given a new joint secretary in long-time RSS functionary Kesava Vinayagam.
He will make his first visit to Tamil Nadu as party in-charge on April 15
