BJP Leader Nitin Nabin Conducts Major Organisational Rejig, Appoints Smriti Irani as National General Secretary

Ex Union Minister Smriti Irani made a comeback to the Bharatiya Janata Party ‘s top leadership Monday morning – returning as a National General Secretary in party chief Nitin Nabin’s organisational rejig. The shake-up will also see Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal become the party’s National Treasurer. Smriti Irani returns to the upper ranks of the BJP's leadership structure for the first time since June 2024, when she was dropped from the union cabinet. This was after Irani lost her Lok Sabha seat - Amethi in Uttar Pradesh, a seat she wrestle away from Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in the 2019 election - to the Congress' Kishori Lal Sharma. Ex- National General Secretary Ram Madhav was named as one of 13 national vice presidents, six of whom are women; this includes ex-Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje. The number of women in the new leadership team - 12 overall - has been seen as part of the BJP's outreach to women voters before key elections next year in UP, Punjab, and Gujarat. Equally significantly, Amit Malviya has been dropped as the party's IT Cell chief after a 11-year-stint in the job. He will be replaced by Deepak Mhaskey from Chhattisgarh. Anil Baluni, however, remains the Media-in-Charge. Another key inclusion is Sandeep Pathak - who joined Raghav Chadha in jumping from the AAP to the BJP in April. Pathak has been made one of 16 national secretaries, alongside two leaders from Kerala - K Surendran and Anil Antony, who is the son of veteran Congress leader and former Union Defence Minister AK Antony. BJP Odisha leader Sambit Patra has been appointed as the coordinator for the northeast, and other big names tapped to become part of Nabin's leadership team are ex-Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb and the party's Rajasthan unit chief Satish Poonia. BL Santosh will continue as the party's National General Secretary (Organisation). In addition, ex-Uttarakhand Chief Minister Tirath Singh Rawat, the BJP's Andhra Pradesh unit chief D Purandeswari, Varshaben Narendrabhai Doshi from Gujarat, ex-junior Union Health Minister Bharti Pravin Pawar, and ex-Punjab Finance Minister Manpreet Singh Badal are also on the list. In a post on X, Nabin congratulated the new office-bearers and said: "With a blend of experience and energy, this team will give new momentum to the organisation under the guidance of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. I am confident that every member, with the spirit of a dedicated karyakarta, will further strengthen the organisation to take forward the resolve of a 'Viksit Bharat' and the commitment to nation-building to new heights. PM Modi tweeted: "Congratulations to the newly appointed office bearers... and those who have been given various responsibilities. This newly appointed team brings together organisational experience, energy, and grassroots connect. I am confident they will give their best in strengthening our party and focusing on public service. My best wishes to them." The leadership rejig comes ahead of a long-expected reshuffle of the Union Cabinet. It also comes seven months after Nabin replaced JP Nadda as the party boss. At 46, Nabin is the youngest politician to become national president of the BJP, a move that has been seen as part of continuing attempts to connect with younger voter. This revamp has been seen as Nabin's efforts to create a leadership mix of younger faces and women while keeping experienced political hands on board. Also, Nabin's 'new' BJP comes as the party is roiled by students' protests that began with pushback over Chief Justice of India Surya Kant's 'cockroaches' remark and spiralled into a movement against the NEET exam paper leak controversy.