Seven months after taking charge as the Bharatiya Janata Party president, Nitin Nabin on 17 August, unveiled the party’s new national organisational team. Although the team includes several new faces, the appointments also signal continuity and organisational experience in several important positions.
Two decisions, in particular, have attracted the most attention.
The first is the return of Smriti Irani as an important general secretary of the party. She will be in charge of the BJP’s election campaign in the upcoming Uttar Pradesh Assembly election. Smriti Irani’s victory over Rahul Gandhi in Amethi was historic. However, she was later defeated by the Congress candidate Kishori Lal Sharma, rather than Rahul Gandhi.
Rahul Gandhi has since shifted his focus to Kerala. However, ahead of the Uttar Pradesh election, the Congress party has taken a decision that Rahul Gandhi will focus on Uttar Pradesh and take on the Gandhi family’s and the Congress party’s political battle there.
After the “Cockroach Party” movement, the Gen Z catharsis and the success of the political movement, the Opposition leadership has become very vocal in Parliament. At the same time, Prashant Kishor’s victory in Bihar, particularly in a constituency such as Bakhtiarpur, has also changed the political conversation.
In this situation, Smriti Irani could become a very important political character to counter Rahul Gandhi. That is why the BJP has taken this decision.
The second important decision is the removal of Amit Malviya from the party’s IT leadership. Malviya’s approach was considered aggressive, hyperactive and strongly polarising. Even some of his comments against the Cockroach Party and the new generation had reportedly annoyed many people within the BJP.
The prevailing speculation and political analysis is that, keeping Gen Z and the younger generation in mind, Amit Malviya has been removed from the position.
At the same time, former Union Minister Smriti Irani has returned to the organisational team as a general secretary. Ram Madhav, who had served as a general secretary when Amit Shah was the party president, has been appointed vice president.
Ram Madhav’s return is also significant. He had been away from the party’s central organisational structure for quite some time. He is an RSS man, but he is also considered close to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and has remained very active in foreign affairs. His return therefore carries political significance.
The inclusion of former Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Deb and Rajya Sabha member Satish Poonia as general secretaries signals that they have been rewarded for their work during the West Bengal and Haryana elections, respectively.
One thing, however, is very clear: Vasundhara Raje has once again been appointed vice president. She had already served as vice president for nearly seven years.
But she has not been given any separate or additional importance, nor has she been made the BJP’s Rajasthan in-charge. The Rajasthan election is also approaching. Therefore, her appointment essentially represents a status quo.
At the same time, several relatively junior leaders have also been appointed vice presidents alongside Vasundhara Raje.
Only two general secretaries from the previous team have been retained: Sunil Bansal, who comes from an RSS background, and Vinod Tawde.
The new general secretaries include former Uttar Pradesh Lok Sabha member Harish Dwivedi, Rajya Sabha member Sanjay Pathak, and Gajendra Patel from Madhya Pradesh.
The appointment carrying perhaps the sharpest political signal, however, appears to be in the BJP’s social media team.
After a long stint, Amit Malviya will no longer be in charge. He has been replaced by Deepak Mahaskar from Chhattisgarh. Deepak Maheskar is also not a very senior leader. He is a professor of chemistry and has some corporate background as well. He is considered smart and has experience with election surveys and election management.
Another important appointment is that of Piyush Goyal as treasurer.
The immediate speculation following this appointment is that a Cabinet reshuffle may now be imminent because of the BJP’s “one man, one post” principle. The question is whether Goyal can continue to hold both a ministerial position in the government and the treasurer’s post in the party organisation.
Piyush Goyal had held the treasurer’s position from 2010 to 2014, and the possibility of him holding two positions, one in the government and another in the party organisation, is therefore significant.
However, many people are also wondering whether he will continue as a minister. It is possible that he may not remain a minister.
Maheskar had managed the BJP’s social media team in Chhattisgarh, while Mr Naveen was the state in-charge during the 2023 Assembly election, which the BJP won.
A new team comprising Preeti Gandhi, Alok Bhatt, Sivanand Dwivedi and Arun Yadav is expected to take a fresh look at the BJP’s online strategy, particularly after the damage caused to the party’s image during the Gen Z protests in July.
Although considered relatively young for the post of national president, Mr Nabin has clearly left his imprint on the new team, bringing in several figures who enjoyed his trust before he was elevated to the top organisational position.
The most important question now is what role the BJP’s media cell will play.
The party’s media cell has witnessed both continuity and change. Anil Baluni, the Uttarakhand MP, has been retained as its chief. He will be assisted by Pradeep Bhandari, Ashish Agarwal and Siddharth Yadav.
The BJP has also kept its expansion and the splitting of other political parties in mind while forming the new team. Leaders who previously belonged to other parties and later joined the BJP have also been accommodated.
Sandeep Pathak, who was formerly associated with the Aam Aadmi Party, and Rohan Gupta, who joined the BJP from the Congress, have now been appointed national secretaries.
Some of the new faces among the national secretaries include Shadesh Singh, Siddharth Sambhu and Phangnon Konyak, the Rajya Sabha MP from Nagaland. This ensures that there is also representation from the Northeast.
The all-important post of general secretary (organisation) has seen continuity, with B.L. Santosh being retained. Santosh is an RSS man from Karnataka. Along with him, Shiv Prakash and Saudhan Singh also continue in the organisational structure.
All the morcha and cell chiefs have been changed. Lok Sabha member from Madhya Pradesh and former state BJP chief V.D. Sharma has been appointed coordinator for all the cells.
The immediate challenge for the new team will be the upcoming Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab and Goa.
Amit had spoken about the need for the new team to have a generational shift. The retention of several incumbent leaders, however, indicates that Nitin Nabin is proceeding with caution.
Of the 64 office-bearers announced, six are below the age of 40, while 15 are between 40 and 49 and 21 are between 50 and 59.
There are 12 women among the office-bearers, including six vice presidents. Around 40 per cent of the team comes from marginalised communities.
The new team therefore appears to strike a balance between the immediate political challenges facing the BJP and the longer-term reality that this will also be the organisational team under which the party will face the 2029 Lok Sabha election.
