BJP president J. P. Nadda on Wednesday effected a major organisational rejig of the Parliamentary Board, the highest decision-making authority in the party, and the central election committee that goes into candidate selections, a rejig that is significant more for the exclusions than inclusions.
The parliamentary board, where Prime Minister Narendra Modi is also a member, former BJP president and Roads and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari has been dropped as was Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan. Mr. Gadkari's exclusion is particularly significant as he is a former president of the party, and the other two former presidents - Home Minister Amit Shah and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh continue to be members. The exclusion of Mr. Gadkari follows after another former president, L. K. Advani was dropped from the Board.
The Board in its previous form had five vacancies due to the passing away of senior leaders Arun Jaitley, Sushma Swaraj, and Ananth Kumar and the election of Venkaiah Naidu as Vice-President of India and Karnataka Governor Thawar Chand Gehlot being appointed to that post.
