New Delhi: Hoping to strike a balance between ‘continuity and change’, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)’s new team, say party leaders, reflects the sentiments of the younger generation while acknowledging the importance of organisational experience.
The 65-member team has an average age of around 55. However, it includes six members under 40 years of age, 15 between 40 and 49, and 21 members in the 50-59 age group, according to the BJP.
“This shows that the party is not completely making a shift towards a younger leadership but is aiming to strike a balance between young and experienced hands. This is also important in terms of giving opportunities to new faces but at the same time providing them enough hand-holding through experienced leaders,” said a senior party leader.
“We have tried to strike a balance between continuity and change in the new team. It has been constituted keeping in mind the requirements of the 2029 elections and hence the need to reach out to the younger generation who will vote in the next elections,” said a senior BJP leader.
With party president Nitin Nabin being just 46 years old, many were expecting the new team to reflect that. At the same time, the party had received a lot of flak for not being able to understand the aspirations of the youth, especially Gen Z who were at the heart of the Jantar Mantar protest in New Delhi that spread across the country.
“It was felt that we must try and have as many young faces as possible, considering the party president himself is a millennial. But at the same time, during several deliberations it was also pointed out that one needs experienced hands to guide too. This is the reason behind keeping a mix of young and experienced faces in the new team,” said a senior BJP leader.
For instance, Dr. Swadesh Singh—a former Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) leader at Jawaharlal Nehru University and currently a professor at Delhi University—has been appointed as a national secretary in the new BJP team. Both Singh and Anil Anthony (who has been retained as the national secretary) are 40 years old, while Sangeeta Yadav (from Uttar Pradesh and made national secretary) and Rituraj Sinha are 45 years old.
Ratan Sharda, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) ideologue and writer, told ThePrint that the average age has been brought down and women participation increased. When quizzed that the team under J.P. Nadda was in fact relatively younger than Nabin’s team, Sharda said most of the functionaries are either under 40 and 45.
“A few may be experienced and may be above 60, so the average comes to this. But that is below the average, so we can’t really put too much emphasis on that. If you look at the proportion of people who are below 45, and a few who are above 60, you’ll find that the average is one thing. But overall, I think the ratio of youth in that organisation is very high,” he explained.
‘Experience is required’
Sharda said the focus in the new team is on ‘reinventing and re-energising’.
“But at the same time experience is also required. You need people like Arun Jaitley and others who give that weight to the entire team and who can guide them with their experience. I’ve talked to many media people in the BJP. They used to say that Jaitley ji would sit with them in the evening, instruct them, joke with them, tell them where they had gone right or wrong, and explain how things should be taken up. So that will happen when there are some experienced people who can guide these people,” he said.
Otherwise, Sharda said “sitting in a very powerful office, in a very powerful party, in a very impressive headquarters, and being involved in all these places—which are quite different from what they were 10 years ago—it’s very easy to get blown away”.
“I know because I’ve seen people there suddenly changing their stance and becoming arrogant. So that has to be kept under control. That’s why some experienced people are required,” he said.
According to a senior BJP leader, the general secretaries, considered to be one of the most important posts in the BJP as they take policy decisions related to the party and hold regular review meetings to chalk out plans for several initiatives especially ahead of the elections. Out of the eight general secretaries, two have been retained while six new names have been included, including Smriti Irani, Biplab Deb, Satish Poonia, and Harish Dwivedi.
“Both Vinod Tawde and Sunil Bansal have been retained in the team as national general secretaries. Tawde comes from the RSS and has been a long-time ABVP activist, who is known for his organizational skills. Bansal has been rewarded for ensuring a major victory in West Bengal at a time when no one had thought of that. These two along with the other new faces will provide the much-needed experience to the entire team,” said a senior BJP leader.
In addition to this, Gajendra Patel, hailing from the tribal community, has been assigned the role of general secretary. Both Ram Madhav and Smriti Irani have also made a comeback and are likely to play a crucial role in the party activities, a functionary added. “While Gajendra Patel is 51, Biplab Deb is 54, Smriti Irani is 50, and Harish Dwivedi is 52 years old. So even amongst the general secretaries care has been taken to undertake a generational shift but ensure that experienced faces are still there to guide,” said another leader.
“Care has been taken to ensure greater representation from Uttar Pradesh where elections will be held next year. Harish Dwivedi, a former Lok Sabha member from Uttar Pradesh, is the general secretary while Sangeeta Yadav, a youth leader and Rajya Sabha member from Uttar Pradesh, has been made a national secretary,” said the leader.
(Edited by Nardeep Singh Dahiya)
Also Read: Who are Tariq Mansoor & Basit Ali, Muslim faces from UP part of BJP chief Nitin Nabin’s new team
There can’t be any tailor made organisational combination to completely befit the crying need of the hour for the BJP. Time alone will prove their real worth.
In organizational management, combining youth with seasoned experience is the ultimate recipe for long-term stability.