The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Monday announced a major reshuffle of its national office-bearers, seven months after Nitin Nabin took charge as the party’s national president.
The new team includes 12 women and reflects the BJP’s emphasis on social representation, with leaders from different castes and tribal communities finding positions in the organisation.
Several prominent leaders have also received key responsibilities, while others have been dropped from the national team.
Smriti Irani, Ram Madhav make a comeback
Former Union minister Smriti Irani has returned to the BJP’s national team as one of eight general secretaries. She is the only woman among the party’s eight national general secretaries.
Former BJP national general secretary Ram Madhav has also made a comeback and has been appointed a national vice president.
Former Tripura chief minister Biplab Kumar Deb has been appointed national general secretary.
Union minister Piyush Goyal has been named the party’s treasurer, a position he previously held between 2010 and 2014. Anil Baluni has been retained as the BJP’s media in-charge.
Eight national general secretaries announced
The BJP has appointed eight national general secretaries, retaining Vinod Tawde and Sunil Bansal.
The new list also includes former MP Harish Dwivedi, former Rajasthan BJP president Satish Poonia, Madhya Pradesh leader Gajendra Patel and Sanjay Bhatia.
The retention of Tawde and Bansal is significant as both leaders have played important roles in recent state elections.
Bansal was involved in the BJP’s organisational work in West Bengal, while Tawde handled responsibilities in Kerala and Bihar. Their experience is expected to be useful as the party prepares for upcoming assembly elections, including in politically important Uttar Pradesh.
New national secretaries
Three-term Bulandshahr MP Bhola Singh, who represents an SC-reserved constituency, and Rajya Sabha MP Kavita Patidar, an OBC leader from Madhya Pradesh, have been appointed national secretaries along with 14 others.
The appointments underline the BJP’s continued focus on broadening social representation within its organisational structure.
Several senior leaders dropped
The reshuffle also brings significant changes to the party’s existing team.
Arun Singh, who had served as a BJP general secretary since 2015, has been dropped. Radha Mohan Das Agrawal, who became a general secretary in 2023, is also no longer part of the new team.
Tarun Chugh, who was recently elected to the Rajya Sabha, has been assigned responsibility for poll-bound Punjab.
Dushyant Gautam, a prominent Dalit leader who had served as a general secretary since 2020 and was also Uttarakhand in-charge, has also been dropped from the national team.
Nitin Nabin’s generational shift
Nitin Nabin, a five-term legislator from Bihar and now a Rajya Sabha MP, was appointed BJP national president on January 20.
His elevation was widely seen as part of a generational transition within the BJP. The party was founded in 1980, the same year Nabin was born.
The latest organisational reshuffle gives Nabin a new national team as the BJP prepares for several important political contests and seeks to strengthen its organisational machinery across states.