With an eye on the next Lok Sabha and Assembly elections, the Bharatiya Janata Party has appointed new party chiefs in many of its state units. Union Culture Minister G. Kishan Reddy has been made state president of Telangana, while Etela Rajender, an MLA and former state minister, has been appointed as the campaign committee chief for the state elections later this year.
BJP chief J.P. Nadda has also appointed new chiefs in Punjab, Jharkhand and Andhra Pradesh, thus setting in motion its plan to revamp the organisation for the elections keeping in mind the ground situation. This rejig comes ahead of the BJP’s scheduled meetings on July 6,7 and 8 when it will hold meetings of the state units based on three geographical regions: East, North and South.
In Punjab, former MP and Congress state president Sunil Jakhar who joined BJP last year will replace Ashwini Sharma as the new party chief. Jakhar with his long innings in the state politics is expected to bring to the saffron party several new leaders to bolster the organisation.
Considered close to former chief minister Amarinder Singh who also joined the BJP along with his family members, Jakhar will lead the party in the state where the Aam Aadmi Party is in power.
Jakhar had raised the banner of revolt when Amarinder Singh was removed from the post by the party’s central leadership. Jakhar was the choice of most MLAs, but later the party decided in favour of a Sikh dalit face, Charanjit Singh Channi. Jakhar had asked why a Hindu could not be the chief minister in the state.
In Jharkhand, the BJP has brought in its former Chief Minister Babulal Marandi as the state president. Marandi had left the party to float his own party, but later returned to BJP. A known tribal face in the state, Marandi is expected to strengthen the organisation in the state where JMM is in power.
In Andhra Pradesh, BJP has given the party reigns to former union minister D. Purandeshwari, who is also a BJP general secretary. She is the daughter of former Chief Minister and TDP founder N.T. Ramarao, and sister-in-law of TDP chief Chandrababu Naidu. BJP and TDP are in talks for a possible alliance in the state. Purandeshwari and Naidu may not have been on best of terms in the past.
BJP chief Nadda also made former Congress state Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy as member of the BJP National Executive.
In Telangana, Kishan Reddy replaces firebrand state chief Bandi Sanjay Kumar. Reddy was party’s Telangana chief from 2014 to 2016. Prior to that he was the state chief of undivided Andhra Pradesh from 2010 onwards.
Etela Rajender who had joined BJP from BRS along with other leaders had complained about Bandi Sanjay Kumar. They pushed for Reddy to be made the state chief. By making Etela Rajender as election management committee, the party has given signal that it was betting on Reddy and Rajender for the next state elections. Together they are expected to bring in more leaders from the BRS.
The BJP was also expected to make changes in the organisation after its loss in Karnataka which exposed the shortcomings in managing the regional equations and assessing the ground situation.
