BJP old guard, former CMs get party jobs ahead of state and LS elections

With less than two years to go for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, the party has released a list of incharges and co-incharges of 15 states.

A year after he stepped down as Gujarat chief minister, making way for Bhupendra Patel to be sworn in, Vijay Rupani has been given charge of Punjab, which the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) swept in this year’s assembly election. Meanwhile, Biplab Kumar Deb, the first ever BJP chief minister in Tripura, has been made in-charge of BJP-ruled Haryana, which goes to polls in 2024. Deb, who resigned as chief minister in May to be succeeded by Manik Saha, has also been nominated as party’s candidate for a Rajya Sabha by-election from Tripura. The seat had fallen vacant after Saha quit in July.

Maharashtra leader Vinod Tawde, who’s political fortunes have often fluctuated, is incharge of key state Bihar where the party faces a tough challenge from former ally Nitish Kumar and RJD. Old organisational hand Om Mathur had been made responsible for Chhattisgarh, where the congress is on office.

Former union minister Prakash Javadekar, who was dropped during a cabinet reshuffle in July last year along with Ravi Shankar Prasad and Harsh Vardhan, has been been asked to take charge of the party’s affairs in left-ruled Kerala. The BJP drew a blank in the assembly elections of 2021, in which the CPM-led LDF emerged victorious for a second consecutive term. Javadekar’s role is significant, given that the BJP has been trying to make inroads into the southern state.

Another former union minister and Lok Sabha MP Mahesh Sharma, who was denied a berth in the cabinet after the 2019 election, has been given charge of Tripura, which goes to polls next year. Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress, which has defeated both Left and BJP in West Bengal, is hoping to take both the two parties on in Tripura, which has over 60% of Bengali-speaking population.

Among the other party leaders given roles in states, former Bihar minister Mangal Pandey has been made incharge of West Bengal. Sunil Bansal, one of the key organisation functionaries in BJP chief JP Nadda’s team, is already incharge of West Bengal, besides Telangana and Odisha. BJP general secretary Tarun Chugh will continue to be incharge of Telangana, the southern state where the BJP is hoping to gain a foothold in the elections late next year. BJP national spokesperson Sambit Patra has been made the party’s coordinator for northeastern states.

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