New Delhi: The BJP on Monday unveiled its new national team under party president Nitin Nabin, giving former Union minister Smriti Irani a significant organisational role as one of the party’s eight national general secretaries and assigning her charge of the crucial Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections.
Irani’s appointment is among the most closely watched decisions in the new organisational structure, underlining the BJP’s focus on Uttar Pradesh, the country’s most politically significant State and a key battleground for the party. Her elevation also marks a move from a prominent ministerial and parliamentary role to a more direct organisational responsibility at the national level.
The BJP named eight national general secretaries, retaining B L Santosh as National General Secretary (Organisation) and continuing with Vinod Tawde and Sunil Bansal in the general secretary team. Former Tripura chief minister Biplab Kumar Deb has also been inducted as a national general secretary.
The new team has a mix of experienced leaders and fresh faces, signalling an attempt to combine organisational continuity with wider political and grassroots representation.
The party appointed 13 national vice presidents, including former Rajasthan chief minister Vasundhara Raje Scindia, former Union minister D Purandeshwari, RSS leader Ram Madhav, former Uttarakhand chief minister Tirath Singh Rawat, former Union minister Bharti Pawar, Manpreet Singh Badal and Tariq Mansoor.
Among those retained as national vice presidents are Baijayant Jay Panda and Rekha Verma, while M Nagaraja, Lal Singh Arya and Varshaben Doshi have also been appointed to the post.
Union Minister Piyush Goyal has been appointed treasurer.
The BJP has also named 16 national secretaries, bringing several new faces into the organisational structure. They include former AAP leader Sandeep Pathak, Anil Antony, Rohan Gupta, Kavita Patidar, K Surendran and Manoj Tigga.
Shivprakash and Saudan Singh have been appointed national joint general secretaries (Organisation).
Modi congratulates new team
Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated the newly appointed office bearers, saying the new team combines organisational experience, energy and grassroots connect.
“Congratulations to the newly appointed national office bearers of the BJP and those who have been given various responsibilities in the party. This newly appointed team brings together organisational experience, energy and grassroots connect,” Modi said in a post on X.
He expressed confidence that the new team would work to further strengthen the BJP and focus on public service, while extending his best wishes to the newly appointed office bearers.
With the organisational reshuffle now in place, Smriti Irani’s role in Uttar Pradesh is likely to attract particular attention. The State remains central to the BJP’s national political strategy, and putting a nationally recognised leader with electoral and parliamentary experience in charge of the State signals the importance the party attaches to the forthcoming electoral battle.
