New Delhi:
Drums, trumpets and firecrackers making it official - Nitin Gadkari was unanimously elected the new President of the Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP). In December, he was appointed the acting President of the party after Rajnath Singh stepped down.
Gadkari's next big step will be to appoint a new team of General Secretaries and leaders for the party's different sections.
The youth wing, for example, could greet Varun Gandhi as its new head in Uttar Pradesh, despite stiff criticism for Gandhi's "hate speech" made in March 2009. (Read: BJP silent on Varun Gandhi's hate speech) The BJP's parent body, the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh, reportedly believes that Varun can take on his cousin, Rahul Gandhi in the state.
The key posts of general secretaries will also see lots of changes. The likely new faces are Vasundhara Raje, who repeatedly took on Gadkari's predecessor, Rajnath Singh; Manohar Parrikar, who, less than six months ago, called Advani a rancid pickle; Ravishankar Prasad and Shahnawaz Hussain.
Sources say that based on consultations with the RSS, Gadkari may find new faces for a third of the party's posts, using them to replace leaders responsible for electoral failures. "It will be a blend of old and new - a balance between different kind of capabilities and regional representation," promises Prakash Javadekar, BJP Spokesman.
But what may be tougher is balancing the demands of the RSS, which wants more of its men in key posts, with that of leaders like Advani, who are opposed to giving too much power to the RSS.
"There is peace and unity in the party now," says Gadkari. Everybody's reading between the lines.
Gadkari's next big step will be to appoint a new team of General Secretaries and leaders for the party's different sections.
The youth wing, for example, could greet Varun Gandhi as its new head in Uttar Pradesh, despite stiff criticism for Gandhi's "hate speech" made in March 2009. (Read: BJP silent on Varun Gandhi's hate speech) The BJP's parent body, the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh, reportedly believes that Varun can take on his cousin, Rahul Gandhi in the state.
The key posts of general secretaries will also see lots of changes. The likely new faces are Vasundhara Raje, who repeatedly took on Gadkari's predecessor, Rajnath Singh; Manohar Parrikar, who, less than six months ago, called Advani a rancid pickle; Ravishankar Prasad and Shahnawaz Hussain.
Sources say that based on consultations with the RSS, Gadkari may find new faces for a third of the party's posts, using them to replace leaders responsible for electoral failures. "It will be a blend of old and new - a balance between different kind of capabilities and regional representation," promises Prakash Javadekar, BJP Spokesman.
But what may be tougher is balancing the demands of the RSS, which wants more of its men in key posts, with that of leaders like Advani, who are opposed to giving too much power to the RSS.
"There is peace and unity in the party now," says Gadkari. Everybody's reading between the lines.
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