New Delhi: There have been a number of turncoats who’ve found a place in JP Nadda’s brand new team while many non-performer BJP leaders have been shunted out.
Mukul Roy: The biggest name is Mukul Roy who has been elevated to the post of BJP Vice President. Earlier there was media speculation about him being allegedly “unhappy” with BJP which he rubbished. A close confidant of BJP’s Bengal in-charge Kailash Vijayvargiya, and once the right hand of West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee, he quit the TMC in October 2017. In a faction-ridden Bengal unit, Roy’s appointment is a message that he needs to be taken seriously.
Roy has also been instrumental in a lot of TMC and CPM leaders joining the BJP. He will be a key asset for team Nadda in view of the West Bengal elections next year.
Jay Panda: The former BJD leader continues to remain BJP’s National Vice President when many heavyweights such as Uma Bharti, Prabhat Jha, Vinay Sahasrabuddhe have been removed as Vice President.
In fact Panda’s name figures at No 4, which shows the importance he is being given by the party. Known to be articulate and widely networked, Panda had joined the BJP only last March in presence of Dharmendra Pradhan in Delhi and has ever since climbed the ladder.
Tom Vadakkan: The Gandhi loyalist caught everyone by surprise when he joined the BJP in March last year. He has ever since propagated the theory of how the Congress is a family-controlled party where no inner-party democracy exists. A year of doing so and with no credible articulate voice who can speak on Kerala politics, the BJP has anointed him the national spokesperson from Kerala.
Anupam Hazra: Hazra was a young, well-read TMC lawmaker who had his allegiance to Mukul Roy. After Roy’s exit, he has been in touch with him. Last year in March, he along with Congress’s Dulal Chandra and CPM’s Khagen Murmu came into the saffron fold. He was earlier expelled from his party before his formal entry into the BJP. Today, Hazra has been made a national Secretary of the BJP, replacing Rahul Sinha who has been sidelined for ‘non-performance.’ It was also a message to the party’s quarrelling state unit that the BJP cares about performance.
D Purandeswari: A former union minister in the UPA era, the daughter of iconic actor-politician NT Rama Rao had joined the BJP in 2014, when the Modi wave was sweeping the nation. She joined the party in presence of then BJP leader and now Vice President Venkaiah Naidu. With the party’s renewed focus on Andhra Pradesh, where it has been criticising Japan Mohan Reddy and his policies, she has been elevated to the post of an all-important National General Secretary.
When she had joined the party it was Rajnath Singh who was BJP President. Now, it is JP Nadda who has come out with his new team with specific goals. Surely, her new position indicates the important role she will play in the southern state in the coming days.
The much anticipated Team JP Nadda has been announced today in which there has been a major overhaul with big names such as Uma Bharti, Om Mathur and Shyam Jaju being dropped.
