NEW DELHI: With an eye on strengthening the organisation in different states especially poll bound, BJP chief Amit Shah on Friday announced key responsibilities for its office bearers, and some new appointments.
Days after Shah made 10 new additions to his team, he has announced new responsibilities. “The message is that party is working,” Shah said.
The message emerging from the new rejig is that BJP has focussed on elections. For electorally crucial Uttar Pradesh, vice president OM Mathur, who was the incharge of party affairs, will now be assisted by five leaders as co-incharge. Virendra Khateek (MP), Rameshwar Chaurasiya, Ramesh Bidhuri (MP), Satyendra Kushwaha and Sunil Ojha, all castes which would be key to BJP is campaign in the state. Similarly, Bihar where Rajya Sabha MP Bhupinder Yadav was incharge, he will be assisted by two new members as co-incharges: C R Patil, a Lok Sabha MP from Gujarat, and Delhi-based Bihari leader Pawan Sharma.
General Secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya, a close aide of party president Amit Shah and Madhya Pradesh minister, will be the new in-charge of West Bengal, while existing incharge Siddharth Nath Singh will be the co-incharge. Vijayvargiya has been rewarded as he election incharge for Haryana, where BJP formed government for the first time. He was last month inducted as general secretary. Meanwhile, the party appointed a new incharge for Delhi, where BJP fared badly. Prabhat Jha, who was earlier incharge of Delhi has been give responsibility of Punjab and Chandigarg, while Shyam Jaju, BJP vice president with Sangh background will be incharge of Delhi.
The saffron party also formed a separate OBC Morcha and S P Singh Baghel, a backward leader from Uttar Pradesh and former Samajwadi Party MP who joined BJP, will be its head.
The appointments of state in-charges made today also filled in the vacancies caused by the shift of senior party leader J P Nadda from the organisation to the government and also allocated work to three new general secretaries and as many vice presidents besides four secretaries.
Sources said Arun Singh, who recently promoted as general secretary will be the new incharge of the party headquarter. However, the post of treasurer continues to be vacant. Shah is yet to fill a few posts in his team. Moreover, incharges of different cells have also not been announced.
Former JK IG, who recently joined BJP, has been made incharge of minority morcha, while also bene made incharge of partry affairs in Nagaland.
South India
Meanwhile, former UPA minister D Purandeshwari, who had joined BJP on eve on Lok Sabha elections last year was also given responsibility in the party. She was made incharge of the women cell (mahila morcha) and also made co-incharge of party affairs Karnataka. Among the Southern states, responsibilities have fell on Murlidhar Rao, who apart of being charge of Yuva Morcha, who will also be parbhari (incharge) of key states like Karnataka, Tamil Nadu. H Raja will be incharge of Kerala, Art of Living teacher turned Lok Sabha MP Mahesh Giri has been made incharge of Lakhsdweep and Puducherry. Giri was recently made secretary in the BJP, thus showing his rising graph within the saffron party.
For Andhra Pradesh, Siddharth Nath Singh will be the incharge, while Krishn Das for Telangana.