BJP grows younger as Venkaiah waves wand

Naidu made several departures from tradition in the new appointments. The first was the denial of berths to his predecessors, K. Jana Krishnamurthi and Kushabhau Thakre. Bangaru Laxman too was left out, but it was supposed to be more for the circumstances in which he quit office.

Krishnamurthi and Thakre were apparently punished for their defiance. Krishnamurthi had resisted attempts to remove him from party presidency, and Thakre had shifted loyalty from Advani to Vajpayee.

Another trend set was in Jaitley’s appointment as board secretary. Till now, this was a charge held by general-secretary (organisation), usually an RSS pracharak. In the normal course, Sanjay Joshi would have been in line for the job. Jaswant Singh, lately moved closer to Advani, was apparently rewarded for it.

Naidu recast the Central Election Committee too. Jaitley was named committee secretary too. Apart from board members, among others the committee includes Thakre, vice-president Pyarelal Khandelwal, and Keshubhai Patel.