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BJP : No major changes in new national executive |
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New BJP president Rajnath Singh, has constituted the party national executive, striking a tactful balance between the old and the new with the unstated blessings of the RSS. The Hindutva tilt was emphasised by the inclusion of former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Kalyan Singh, Vinay Katiyar associated with the Ram Temple movement and Bal Apte of the RSS. Observers say that the new team of office bearers reflected the realisation that the party needs to go in far an image change without compromising its ideology. Balanced representation of different sections and regions indicated the party’s wish to expand its social and geographical bases.
Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi has been included in the party’s parliamentary board. Vinay Katiyar comes in as one of the party general secretaries.
The BJP’s new national executive has 75 members, with 5 vacancies to be filled later. It includes 12 women, two of whom are office bearers and 11 members from the Scheduled Castes and Tribes, five of whom are office-bearers.
Pramod Mahajan, Arun Jaitley and Ananth Kumar have been retained as general secretaries while O.P. Mathur and Thawar Chand Gehlot (vice president in Advani’s team and senior SC leader) are the new appointees, besides Katiyar. Mahajan will act as secretary of both the Parliamentary Board and the Central Election Committee.
Modi’s inclusion in the CPB is being seen not only as an indication of his growing importance, but also as a rebuff to Uma Bharati who had alleged that the board does not represent the weaker and backward classes.
Rajnath Singh has retained his senior in UP, former Chief Minister Kalyan Singh as vice president to dispel any impression of the latter being unhappy., He has also made him a member of the powerful Central Parliamentary Board.
While retaining Jaitley, Mahajan and Prakash Javedkar as spokesmen, the party has appointed former Union Minister Ravishankar Prasad as the new spokesman of the BJP.
BJP-RSS to stick to Hindutva
A two-day meeting of the RSS and BJP leaders held in Jaipur last week has favoured sticking to Hindutva, collective leadership and not allowing the Congress culture to infest its rank and file. The meeting which ended on Jan. 25, called upon the Chief Ministers of BJP-ruled states to go in for people’s participation in the Government and give due weightage to organization and rural development.
At the Chintan Shivir, the RSS and BJP leadership evaluated recent political events in and outside the party. In his concluding remarks, RSS chief K.S. Sudarshan said that instead of centering around one person or personality, we should go for collective leadership. “There are less chances of taking a wrong decision by the collective leadership than an individual.”
He said that if the BJP wants to build an image of a “party with a difference”, it must adopt value and ideology-based politics.
According to RSS spokesman Ram Madhvan, the meet has not given any guidelines to BJP as it was not meant for that.
Uma Bharati set on new front
The expelled BJP leader, Uma Bharati, has ruled out her return to the party. Speaking at a meet-the-press meeting in New Delhi, the outspoken former BJP leader said she plans to form a separate front. She said : “The real BJP belongs to lakhs of workers. But there is a gang of 40-50 people, including some Chief Ministers and general secretaries, who make no contribution to the party except indulging in intrigues. I refuse to call this gang a party.”
Uma Bharati expressed her resolve to ensure that the people of Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh, where Assembly elections are due next year, lived in crime free states and enjoyed good governance. “I want to win and form a government in Uttar Pradesh next year,” she said.
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