The Hindu : Major shake-up in BJP organisation expected

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Feb 01, 2003

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National

Major shake-up in BJP organisation expected

By Neena Vyas

NEW DELHI JAN. 31. A major shakeup in the Bharatiya Janata Party organisation is expected to take place in the next 10 to 15 days. The party president, Venkaiah Naidu, and the new general secretary, Pramod Mahajan, will be doing the preliminary exercise which will then be cleared by Deputy Prime Minister, L.K.Advani, after his return from an official visit to Thailand.

Mr. Naidu had said on Thursday that work to the party office-bearers would be reallocated. Sources have indicated that the shakeup would not be limited to work reallocation but could result in the dropping of some office-bearers and the taking in of "fresh faces.''

It has been more than obvious that some senior office-bearers have just not been able to make the mark. Anita Arya, a dalit, was brought in as general secretary six months ago but now she may be on her way out. A hunt for an `effective' woman is on. The party's Chief Ministerial candidate in Madhya Pradesh, Uma Bharti, is an obvious choice but the party may want her completely free of other responsibility for creating a favourable political climate for the BJP in the State.

The party also seems to be planning to make it a rule not to make the leaders of any one State `prabharis' or the in-charge of the same State. It is felt that this encourages a tendency towards factionalism.

If this "principle'' is accepted, it would mean that the former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister and party general secretary, Rajnath Singh, would no longer be the zonal in-charge of Uttar Pradesh. It is also being said that the senior leader, Kailashpati Mishra, may be given a position outside the party, for example a chairmanship or governorship. Recently, Mr. Singh had spoken harshly of the action taken under POTA by the Mayawati Government against the MLA, Raja Bhayya, and this was not exactly in tune with what Mr. Naidu had stated.

If the "principle'' of not having a man from the State as in-charge of the political affairs in the same State is accepted, it would be for the first time in the BJP, unlike in the Congress where it has been practised for a long time. In the past in the BJP, Mr. Mahajan from Maharashtra was `prabhari' of the same State, Kushbhau Thakre from Madhya Pradesh was virtually totally in-charge of the State, Madan Lal Khurana has been `prabhari' of Delhi and Ramdas Aggarwal of Rajasthan.

There is a view in the party that the former Shipping Minister, Ved Prakash Goyal, would be put in-charge of fund raising from NRIs and other supporters abroad. Earlier, he was treasurer of the party but Mr. Ramdas Aggarwal, currently the treasurer, may not be disturbed when Rajasthan assembly elections are to be held later this year.

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