BJP brings back Smriti Irani, Ram Madhav in big national team rejig: Who got what

The Bharatiya Janata Party ( BJP ) on Monday announced its much-anticipated new organisational team, bringing a few key leaders back into the party, promoting a bouquet of women leaders and inducting a number of young people with an eye on upcoming assembly elections, especially in Uttar Pradesh . The changes also point to those that might follow in a cabinet reshuffle that has been spoke of for months.

Seven months after appointing Nitin Nabin as the 12th national president of the BJP, the party announced 13 vice-presidents, six of them women. It dropped a clutch of key names and introduced new faces, including former national general secretary Ram Madhav and former Uttarakhand chief minister Tirath Singh Rawat .

The party named eight general secretaries, dropping four. Among the six new faces were former Union minister Smriti Irani – the only woman among the eight – and former Tripura CM Biplab Deb . Union commerce minister Piyush Goyal was appointed national treasurer, a post he held from 2010 to 2014; Anil Baluni has been retained in the media cell, as convenor. He was earlier media cell head.

For Madhav, Irani, Deb, and Rawat, the announcement marks a comeback of sorts into the leadership mainstream of the party.

The party replaced parliamentarian Tejaswi Surya and former lawmaker Vanathi Srinivasan as the chiefs of its youth and women wings, with Hemang Joshi from Gujarat and Roopkumari Chaudhary from Chhattisgarh, respectively. Amit Malviya was replaced as IT cell chief with former Chhattisgarh minister Deepak Mhaskey, who has been appointed as convenor.

There is speculation that some of those replaced could find a place in the Cabinet during a reshuffle or be deputed to various states and morchas. A person familiar with the matter said a reshuffle could come in September.

Overall, the list of 65 office-bearers includes 12 women. Among the states, there are 10 names from Delhi and many states such as Assam and Nagaland have a single entry.

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“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. I am confident they will give their best in strengthening our party and focussing on public service. My best wishes to them,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on X.

The organisational rejig was widely anticipated because it is seen as a key step leading to the much-awaited cabinet reshuffle, the first in the third term of the National Democratic Alliance. The new team adheres to the party’s social engineering model, which gives representation to various castes and tribes, and is a mix of experienced and fresh faces.

Among the 13 vice-presidents, the party retained former Rajasthan CM Vasundhara Raje Scindia from Rajasthan, lawmaker Rekha Verma from Uttar Pradesh, and lawmaker Baijyant ‘Jay’ Panda from Odisha.