Major shake-up among BJP brass in Delhi ahead of 2024 LS polls: Pawan Rana appointed party gen secy

While some insiders sought to play down the development as “routine”, party sources said Rana, who has so far held the same post in Himachal Pradesh — which Siddharthan will now succeed him to — meant that the BJP national president himself “would be more involved” in both states following recent electoral setbacks last year.

“He (Rana) is considered close to Nadda ji and so is Siddharthan ji; the modification in their roles means that both the Delhi and Himachal Pradesh units of the party will see closer monitoring of their affairs by Nadda ji himself,” a senior party leader said.

In January, The Indian Express had reported the possibility of Siddharthan, who had held the post of general secretary (organisation) for around 8 years, being replaced.

While the BJP could not retain electoral control of Himachal Pradesh following the Assembly polls, it also lost the reins of the MCD after a 15-year tenure last December. Both Delhi and Himachal Pradesh then saw their respective state chiefs, first Adesh Gupta and then Suresh Kumar Kashyap, respectively, step down, with the latter rendering his resignation on April 20.

Rana will replace Siddharthan in the wake of the BJP’s Delhi unit recently witnessing the appointment of Virendra Sachdeva as its full-time president; he was initially given charge as working president following the party’s lacklustre performance in the MCD polls.

According to party sources, organisational changes within the Delhi unit are expected following the conclusion of the Karnataka Assembly polls. “This is a routine organisational change that is affected every few years. It is just that he (Rana) will have to be brought up to speed with the city’s current political scenario as soon as possible,” a senior party leader said, seeking to play down the development.

“In Sachdeva, we already have a strong leader rooted in the city’s politics and effective to the extent that the ruling Aam Aadmi Party has been forced on the back-foot, ironically, over the issue of corruption that Sachdeva has aggressively pursued,” the leader added.

Siddharthan was appointed to the post in 2015 — soon after the AAP came to power — and oversaw the party’s affairs for the 2017 MCD, 2019 Lok Sabha, 2020 Delhi Assembly and 2022 MCD polls during his tenure.