New Delhi: BJP national president J.P. Nadda and general secretary (organisation) B.L. Santhosh have been holding separate one-on-one meetings with senior ministers and party leaders amid preparations for a revamp of Team Modi in both organisation and government.
On Wednesday, Nadda met Prahlad Patel, Jyotiraditya Scindia and Mansukh Mandaviya. A party source said Nadda met Mandaviya to discuss the feedback party MLAs gave him regarding a new state unit chief and Leader of Opposition during his Karnataka visit the previous day. He also met Sunil Jakhar, BJP’s new Punjab unit president.
A day ago, Nadda had met Nirmala Sitharaman, Arjun Ram Meghwal, Bhupender Yadav and Kiren Rijiju while Santhosh met the party’s Punjab in-charge, Gajendra Singh Shekhawat.
Refusing to link any of the meetings to a possible cabinet reshuffle, a party official said some of them may have been held to discuss the Uniform Civil Code (UCC), which the government may be planning to introduce in the monsoon session of Parliament set to begin 20 July.
The official said that the Rijiju meeting may have been held as the minister hails from the Northeast where several communities have expressed their reservations on the UCC. Likewise, Yadav and Meghwal may have been invited as the former has a legal background while the latter holds the law portfolio.
However, another party functionary told ThePrint that the meetings were a “part of the exercise for a cabinet reshuffle”. Just as Union minister G. Kishan Reddy replaced Bandi Sanjay as Telangana unit chief Tuesday, some ministers have to be inducted into the organisation for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, the functionary added. “Bandi Sanjay hails from the Kapu community who are 10 per cent in state…he will need to be accommodated in the cabinet.”
Andhra Pradesh and Jharkhand were the other two states to get a new party chief Tuesday. “In Andhra, more general secretaries can be inducted now that (Dr D.) Purandeswari has been given the state unit charge. A heavyweight leader has to be appointed for UP as well…Only time will tell if top rung ministers such as Sitharaman or Yadav will be brought in for an organisational role,” the official added.
Nadda will also be holding organisational meetings 6-8 July.
A member of Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde’s Shiv Sena may also be accommodated, said a party source. Similarly, a Nationalist Congress Party leader of the Ajit Pawar faction may also be given a cabinet berth to ensure stability in Maharashtra. Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) chief Chirag Paswan may also be inducted into the cabinet, the source said.
Last week, the party president and Santhosh held a brainstorming session with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah on likely changes in the party organisation and government. Earlier in June, the three discussed possible changes in another series of meetings.
(Edited by Smriti Sinha)
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