NEW DELHI: The BJP chief Amit Shah on Thursday effected changes in various affiliated organisations in a bid to infuse fresh blood. Former leader of the BSP in the Lok Sabha Dara Singh Chouhan, who had switched ranks to join the saffron outfit, was appointed the OBC Morcha president. Daughter of late Pramod Mahajan and Lok Sabha MP from Mumbai South Central Poonam Mahajan replaced the BCCI chief Anurag Thakur as the youth unit of the party chief.
Shah has also appointed Lok Sabha MP from Kaushambi in Uttar Pradesh Vinod Sonkar as the president of the SC unit of the party. The BJP chief has also appointed Ramvichar Netam, who is a Rajya Sabha MP and state incharge of Jharkhand, as the head of the ST unit of the party. Shah has also appointed former wrestler and Lok Sabha MP from Bhadohi in UP Virendra Singh Mast as the chief of the Kisan Morcha of the BJP.
Incidentally, three out of the five new heads of various wings hail from the poll bound UP where the saffron outfit is seeking to wrest power from the ruling Samajwadi Party. While Thakur was being seen within the party devoting most of the times for Cricket, the BJP chief appears to have picked Mahajan, who is seen as an emerging youth leader, who could pull crowd.
The newly appointed OBC Morcha chief Dara Singh Chouhan was a trusted lieutenant of the BSP supremo Mayawati before he joined the saffron outfit. Chouhan hails from the core caste constituency of the BSP chief, and is seen within the BJP as a formidable leader who can make inroads into the Dalit vote base for the party. He replaced the former Lok Sabha MP from Firozabad SPS Baghel, who was also in the BSP earlier before he defected to the BJP. However, Baghel was seen within the BJP not giving enough time for the party workers, sources said, which included his apparent failure to organise the meetings of the OBCs in UP effectively in the recent times.
Virendra Singh Mast has been a sincere BJP MP raising issues of farmers' interests in the Lok Sabha regularly. "The changes have been effected to reward those who have been giving time for the party workers, besides also giving message to those who are seen not delivering on the mandate given to them," said a senior BJP functionary.