BJP’s Mass Board Revamp: New Members in Decision-Making Body

Union Minister Nitin Gadkari and Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Chouhan were dropped from the BJP’s top decision-making body today in a purge in which BS Yediyurappa and Devendra Fadnavis landed sought-after spots. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, who drove the BJP to an unprecedented second term in the state, is a glaring prohibition after buzz that he would be rewarded with a spot among the party’s decision-makers.

The BJP’s rejigged parliamentary board, with six new faces including the first Sikh delegate, signals a generational and political change in the most elevated levels of the BJP in the Narendra Modi-Amit Shah time.

The exclusion of previous BJP chief and Union Minister Nitin Gadkari is the greatest stunner in this revamp. Till now, the party had consistently kept its previous presidents in the decision-making process. Mr. Gadkari thought about closing the party’s ideological mentor Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), who got away with potshots aimed at his government.

At a recent event in Nagpur, Mr. Gadkari was cited as saying that present-day politics was more about powerplay and that now and again he considered stopping politics.
The other enormous Maharashtra BJP pioneer, Devendra Fadnavis, has come to the political decision board of trustees. For Mr. Fadnavis, it is a morale-booster after he had to acknowledge a downsize to Deputy Chief Minister when the BJP came to control in Maharashtra alongside Shiv Sena rebel Eknath Shinde.

Shivraj Singh Chouhan, who has been Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister for 20 years, has likewise been dropped from the parliamentary board. With him out of the picture, there is no chief minister on the board.

Mr. Yediyurappa’s consideration reflects the party’s endeavors to prevail upon the strong Lingayat leader after he was forced to resign as Chief Minister a year ago. At 77, he is far beyond the party’s unwritten age bar of 75. The BJP, notwithstanding, needs Mr. Yediyurappa’s collaboration in the Karnataka political race next year; the Lingayats represent 18% of the votes in Karnataka.

Former Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal, who consented to clear a path for Himanta Biswa Sarma after the BJP was re-elected in the state recently, is on the parliamentary board too.

The main constants in this shuffle are PM Modi, Amit Shah, BJP chief JP Nadda and the party’s BL Santhosh. Union Defense Minister Rajnath Singh, likewise a previous BJP chief, has made a reemergence into the parliamentary board.

Members of the parliamentary board automatically become part of the election committee.

The main Muslim face in the election committee, Shahnawaz Hussain, has been dropped. With this, the BJP has no Muslim as Minister, MP or in any significant party post – not even important party post. Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi had before stopped as Union Minister after the finish of his Rajya Sabha term.