New BJP national core committee for 2014

In a change of guard before the all important 2014 General Elections the BJP announced its new core committee comprising of 100 members as well as the all important 12 member highest decision central paramilitary committee that includes former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee. This new BJP core committee for 2014 would select the prime ministerial candidate for the party.

Gujarat CM Narendra Modi pitched as the party’s PM candidate was inducted into the 12 member board. The other two faces from Gujarat in the team being BJP president Rajnath Singh and Amit Shah whose name repeatedly figured in the Sohrabuddin encounter case. Shah would now assume the post of general secretary. Rajya Sabha member and former television actress Smriti Irani was named vice president. Former Karnataka Chief Minister Sadananda Gowda is also among the 13 new vice presidents selected.

However there are no such surprises in the new BJP core committee. Selected after much deliberation and consultation the team according to many party sources reflected the general sentiment of the BJP. Sources close to the party said that there was a need for a balanced team and this team includes that balance with people from different regions and age groups. A senior party leader stated that Narendra Modi’s inclusion in team was a sign of his natural progression in party ranks.

Former civil aviation minister Rajiv Pratap Rudy was selected as one of the new general secretaries. The surprise in this rank was the inclusion of the vociferous Pilibhit MP Varun Gandhi who was recently acquitted from charges of hate speech during the 2009 General Elections. Two members from the RSS Ram Lal and Muridhara Rao also feature in the list of General Secretaries.

Unlike previous BJP core committees in the past this new team also includes considerable number of female members. Uma Bharati, Smriti Irani and Bijoya Chakravarti from Assam named as party vice presidents while eight out of the fifteen secretaries are also women.

Category : Politics

Date : 01 April 2013