The importance of Pramod Mahajan—the ‘‘Lakshman’’ of the BJP—was reinforced today with Rajnath Singh making him in charge of the key states of Maharashtra, Goa and Uttaranchal. He is also the election in-charge of Assam, the only poll-bound state where the BJP is likely to do well. In contrast, Arun Jaitley—the other high-profile general secretary—who was earlier the ‘‘prabhari’’ (in charge) of Bihar and Madhya Pradesh, has been given the relatively less important states of J&K, Punjab and Chandigarh. In all three states, ‘‘sah prabharis’’ have been appointed alongwith Jaitley. Mahajan, on the other hand, has a free hand in the states allotted to him.In the first major organisational revamp after taking over, BJP president Rajnath Singh appointed former Labour Minister Satyanarayan Jatiya as state president of Madhya Pradesh. The choice of Jatiya, an SC leader known to be close to the RSS, was clearly dictated by Uma Bharati’s charge that the BJP was neglecting OBCs and Dalits. The appointment of Radhamohan Singh as state president of Bihar is also guided by caste considerations. With Sushil Kumar Modi, an OBC, becoming deputy CM, the BJP would like to appease its traditional upper-caste constituency with a ‘‘thakur’’ chief. However, Singh is considered a ‘‘lightweight’’ in party affairs, adding to the importance of former Himachal CM Shanta Kumar who has been made prabhari of Bihar.Today’s revamp makes it clear that Rajnath Singh wants to put his own stamp on the party organisation. An indication of this is the absence of any assignment to former president Venkaiah Naidu. The decision to appoint organisation strongman Bal Apte as prabhari of Andhra Pradesh and newly appointed general secretary Thawar Chand Gehlot of Karnataka is also being seen as attempts to whittle down Naidu’s influence over the southern states.Party circles, however, regard the elevation of Mahajan as the most significant aspect of today’s reshuffle and confirmation that a Rajnath Singh-Pramod Mahajan axis has replaced the Advani-Venkaiah-Jaitley grouping.Mahajan has not only retained his ‘‘fiefdoms’’ of Maharashtra and Goa, but has got the bonus of Uttaranchal. Apart from being one of BJP’s ‘‘strong states’’ where it could regain power, its proximity to Uttar Pradesh would enable Mahajan to extend his influence to India’s biggest state as well, BJP insiders feel.
