BJP begins reshuffle to be fighting fit for 2024, Union ministers to be moved to states

Apart from Reddy, the party announced the appointment of former Union minister D Purandeswari as Andhra BJP chief and placed former Chief Minister Babulal Marandi at the helm of its Jharkhand unit.

Former Congress leader Sunil Jakhar, who joined the BJP last year, will be its chief in Punjab. The party also named OBC leader Etela Rajender as the chairperson of its election management committee in Telangana.

According to BJP sources, the appointment of the Union ministers is part of its strategy to scale up and coordinate its preparations for crucial state elections and the Lok Sabha polls.

There is talk of a reshuffle in the Union Council of Ministers with fresh faces being inducted. State leaders such as current Gujarat BJP chief C R Paatil may be brought to Delhi, according to party leaders.

Sources said that given the elections, the party needs more hands on deck. “The government’s role in the election is limited but the organisation has to be fully active,” a BJP leader said.

“The new appointments are aimed at minimising possible losses and maximising gains for the Lok Sabha elections. Some appointments could have been done looking at the future as the central leadership wants to bring up new leaders even in BJP-ruled states,” the leader said.

The BJP, which so far has largely hesitated in appointing lateral entries (leaders who have joined it from other parties) to crucial positions, now seems to have changed its stand. The latest rejig is significant because of the primacy accorded to such leaders. Jakhar and Rajender left the Congress and the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) respectively to join the BJP while Purandeswari was in the Congress and a Union minister in the UPA government. She moved to the BJP in 2014. Rajender was the right-hand man of Telangana Chief Minister and BRS leader K Chandrashekar Rao, while Marandi was the founder president of the Jharkhand Vikas Morcha (Prajatantrik). The revamp is also seen as the BJP’s attempt to put in place a strong local leadership that it lacks at present in several key states.

Telangana

In Telangana, G Kishan Reddy, who is a more acceptable face than Bandi Sanjay Kumar, and Rajender are a combination the party sees as its trump card. The BJP is focusing on emerging as an alternative in the state but has been struggling because of an intense internal feud. While Reddy is expected to unite the party, Rajender is the leader who the party thinks can infuse energy in the rank and file using his strategies and resources.

According to some state BJP leaders, Rajender will be “the face against KCR”. A source said caste equations were also kept in mind while deciding on the appointments. While Reddy is the upper caste face, Rajender represents the OBCs.

The backward classes so far formed the backbone of the BJP’s vote base in Telangana but the party now wants to consolidate Hindu votes as Dalits and Muslims have started moving towards the Congress, according to a state BJP leader.

Other than the OBCs and the Reddys, the party also hopes a collective leadership that also includes Lok Sabha MP Arvind Dharmapuri and Sanjay Kumar, both Kappus, will make it a formidable force.

Andhra Pradesh

Although its prospects in Andhra Pradesh are not so bright, the BJP appears to have carefully considered its caste calculations. At a time when the party has initiated talks with former ally TDP, the main Opposition party in the state, the appointment of Purandareswari, daughter of TDP founder N T Rama Rao who is still revered by the upper-caste Kamma community, has surprised many.

While some say it may help the BJP consolidate Kamma votes, others caution it could boomerang. In 2019, BJP got just 0.96% of the votes in the Lok Sabha polls and 0.84% of the votes in the election to the 175-member Andhra Assembly.

A BJP leader from the state said Purandareswari at the helm will not spoil the party’s prospective partnership with the TDP. N Chandrababu Naidu, TDP chief and former Chief Minister, is married to Purandareswari’s younger sister Bhuvaneshwari. The BJP planned a series of outreach and agitation programmes against the Jagan Mohan Reddy-led YSR Congress Party government in the recent past but its friendly approach towards the regional party ended up hindering its attempts to grow as an alternative force in the state.

Punjab

The BJP has replaced Ashwani Sharma with Jakhar who joined the party from the Congress last year. Desperate to win a few Lok Sabha seats and emerge as a political force in Punjab, the party is banking on Jakhar’s experience of three-and-a-half decades in politics to gain a foothold. In last year’s Assembly elections, the party joined hands with smaller outfits, including former Congress CM Captain Amarinder Singh-led Punjab Lok Congress, but managed to win only two seats.

Jharkhand

The appointment of Marandi, who was a Lok Sabha MP for four terms and also served as a Union minister, is being seen as another step the party has taken to regain its tribal support base.

After losing a significant portion of that support base in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh, the BJP has taken a series of initiatives to win back that trust, including the nomination of Droupadi Murmu, a former Jharkhand Governor, as the first President from a tribal community. Marandi, who is a Santhal, is expected to keep the faction-ridden Jharkhand BJP united.

According to sources, Marandi’s appointment is also an attempt to effect a “correction” for the party’s move to appoint a non-tribal CM, Raghubar Das, following its electoral victory in 2014.

“Marandi’s leadership is expected to give a new direction to the party and can step up its activities as an aggressive Opposition in the state. It will help the BJP in its outreach to the tribal communities,” a BJP MP said.