Amit Shah orders rejig in 2 state units

NEW DELHI: Even as state units of BJP-ruled Rajasthan and Jharkhand continue without the essential RSS point person officially designated as general secretary (organisation), the party leadership has changed its RSS point persons in partyruled Chhattisgarh as well as in Odisha ahead of Amit Shah’s formation of new organisational team for his new tenure as party chief.

Party sources confirmed that central leadership has asked incumbent Chhattisgarh sangathan mahamantri Rampratap Singh to make way for Pawan Sai, an RSS pracharak. No other responsibility has been assigned to Singh, but he may be inducted into the party as a political worker. Party’s newly elected Odisha unit chief Basant Panda executed party diktat in his announcement of new team where he announced Sarada Prasad, an RSS pracharak with earlier stint with ABVP, as the new mahamantri sangathan in place of Prasanna Mishra.

Sources also indicated that a strong section of party’s central leadership was keen to replace Madhya Pradesh unit’s sangathan mahanmantri Arvind Menon. However, the incumbent is said to be trying to avoid the decision with help from chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Union steel minister Narendra Singh Tomar.

It has hinted that former Jharkhand chief minister Arjun Munda and former Bihar minister Nand Kishore Yadav may also be given key posts in the party.

Sources said Shah is likely to replace party’s youth wing chief Anurag Thakur with BJP MP from Mumbai Poonam Mahajan and leadership was considering appointing former Andhra Pradesh chief minister NT Rama Rao’s daughter D Purandeshwari as party’s women’s wing chief.