BJP in revamp mode but Venkaiah job secure

Party sources said all important posts would now go to their natural contenders. Of the five general secretaries, three — Pramod Mahajan, Sanjay Joshi and Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi — are likely to continue. Mahajan is among party strategists and Joshi is on deputation from the RSS.

Naqvi, apart from being a Muslim, enjoys Naidu’s confidence. Anita Arya faces the axe, while the Shivraj Singh Chauhan’s future is uncertain. Senior leaders met at the residence of PM A.B. Vajpayee today to discuss the organisational overhaul. The meeting was attended by Vajpayee, Advani, Jaswant Singh, Naidu, Swaraj, Mahajan and Jaitley.

After the meeting, Naqvi said: ‘‘Naidu is an elected party president. He will continue in his post.’’

Applying the same analogy, he stated: ‘‘There is no proposal for the replacement of any elected president of a state unit. There will be no change on the ground of electoral defeat.’’ Sources said that Naidu had in fact suggested to Advani that he step down following the poll debacle. However, Advani had told him to drop the idea there and then. He had said: ‘‘Naam bhi mat leejiye (Don’t even mention it).’’

Sources said Advani shot down the suggestion because once the party chief resigned, then there had to be a chain reaction and saw no end to resignations.

Organisational elections are yet to be completed in UP, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Orissa, Chhattisgarh and Delhi among other states. In UP and Gujarat, only the presidents have to be elected — Kalyan Singh may replace Vinay Katiyar as unit president. Karnataka BJP chief Ananth Kumar may be shifted to national-level politics.

Naidu is yet to constitute the top party fora — national executive, the central election committee and the parliamentary board — after his election as president. The exercise would span these bodies too.