M A I N   N E W S

Jaitley, Rajnath get lion’s share
Venkaiah allocates party work
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, July 21
The BJP General Secretaries Rajnath Singh and Arun Jaitley got the lion’s share of party work as President Venkaiah Naidu today allocated work to his new team and created a six-member group on “political management and social expansion” to prepare the party for the Assembly elections in 10 states due by early next year.

The team comprises five general secretaries and a vice-president to closely monitor the developments in the states and keep in touch with the allies.

Mr Rajnath Singh has been given charge of Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Haryana, Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir while Mr Jaitley has been entrusted with Delhi, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Kerala, Pondicherry, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Chandigarh, Pondicherry, Andaman and Lakshadweep.

Party Treasurer Ram Das Agarwal has been given key states of Gujarat and Rajasthan which are scheduled to go to the polls by early next year. Madhya Pradesh in charge will be Mr Om Mathur while Mr Lakhiram Agarwal will be party in charge in Chhattisgarh.

BJP Vice-President Pyarelal Khandelwal has been given the charge of Orissa, West Bengal, Assam and the North-East. Mr Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi has been given charge of central headquarters, programme planning, coordination with states, tours, grievance redress and minority affairs.

Mrs Anita Arya will look after women and affairs of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.

The BJP President also announced the list of “prabharis”and their states and the “morcha” in charge. “One of the priorities of the new team of office-bearers is revitalisation of the organisation by effectively and promptly dealing with the many shortcomings that have crept into the party. ‘Prabharis’ have been asked to discharge this responsibility with redoubled dedication,” Mr Naidu said.

According to him, the restructuring exercise was undertaken after a comprehensive review of the organisational structure and taking into account the need to face challenges by a ruling party.

Besides, Mr Naidu would soon constitute a group to take up the party workers’ representations to various ministries and redress their grievances in respect of issues of development and welfare.

Former UP BJP chief Kalraj Mishra has been made a “prabhari” of Uttar Pradesh while party Vice-President Kailaspati Mishra, the oldest member of the team, retains his job of overseeing party affairs in Bihar and Jharkhand.

Former BJP General Secretary and party spokesman Sunil Shastri will now oversee party work in Sikkim.

General Secretary Sanjay Joshi, who is the “sangh pracharak” retains organisational affairs while Mr Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi who was elevated to the post from national secretaryship will coordinate with the states as also in charge of the Central headquarters, programme planning, grievances redress and minorities affairs, besides being the party spokesman.

Following is the list of pradesh “prabharis”:

Mr Padmanabha Acharya (Kerala and Lakshadweep), Mr Lalitha Kumaramangalam (Pondicherry and Andamans), Mr L.Genesan (Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu), Mr Bal Apte (Karnataka and Goa), Mr Gopinathe (Maharashtra), Mrs Karuna Shukla (Orissa), Mr Bapu Apte (West Bengal), Mr Arun Sathe (Assam), Mr Satyapal Jain (Uttaranchal), Mr S.P. Gautam (Punjab), Mr Om Prakash Dhankad (Chandigarh), Mr O.P. Kohli (Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh), Dr Harshvardhan (Haryana), Mr V. Satish (North-East), Mr Dharmendra Pradhan (Tripura) and Mr Sunil Shastri (Sikkim).

Following is the list of in charge of morchas:

Mr Shivraj Singh Chauhan (Yuva Morcha), Mrs Maya Singh (Mahila Morcha), Mr Thawar Chand Gehlot (Scheduled Caste Morcha), Mr Dilip Singh Bhuria (Scheduled Tribes Morcha), Mr Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi (Minority Morcha), Mr Omprakash Dhankad (Kisan Morcha) and Mr Bal Apte (Training).