BJP appoints Tomar as Madhya Pradesh poll committee convenor
It now remains to be seen whether Tomar will remain a part of the Modi cabinet or not as speculation is rife about a possible revamp of the Union Council of Ministers.
Published: 16th July 2023 08:13 AM | Last Updated: 16th July 2023 08:14 AM | A+A A-
Union Minister of Rural Development Narendra Singh Tomar (Photo | Shekhar Yadav, EPS)
BHOPAL: The BJP on Saturday appointed Union Minister for agriculture and farmers’ welfare Narendra Singh Tomar as the convenor of the party’s election management committee in his home state Madhya Pradesh which goes to polls by the year-end.
It now remains to be seen whether Tomar will remain a part of the Modi cabinet or not as speculation is rife about a possible revamp of the Union Council of Ministers.
Tomar’s appointment to head the party’s poll management committee (the apex poll management body of BJP in the state) marks his return to his home state’s politics after nine years. In 2014, Tomar quit as state BJP president after getting elected as MP from Gwalior Lok Sabha seat. He was inducted into the first council of ministers headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Tomar, who had served as state BJP president in 2009, was appointed to the same post six months before the 2013 assembly polls in the state. He along with CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan had powered the saffron party to a massive win in the 2013 polls with 165 out of the total 230 seats.
With the BJP working at bucking the anti-incumbency of 18 years, there is speculation about Tomar or any other senior party leader replacing state party president VD Sharma, who had completed three years in office in February 2023.
Possibly eyeing to maintain a caste balance between the Brahmins, Kshatriyas and OBCs, the party appointed Tomar as the convener of the poll management committee, while keeping the state BJP and MP CM intact.
As per key sources within the state BJP, not only is the BJP facing all-time high incumbency against its government, but even the dissenting voices among its cadres have been on the rise (exposed by a series of switchovers of its former MPs and MLAs to the Congress). Known to have warm ties with party cadres on the grassroots, Tomar’s new role is being seen, particularly to infuse fresh confidence among cadres for the upcoming polls.
Tomar’s appointment happened on the day, when the two newly appointed poll in-charge and co-in-charge union ministers Bhupendra Yadav and Ashwini Vaishnaw arrived in Bhopal for a series of poll preparations-related meetings over the next three days
