BJP to appoint an overseer each for poll-bound states

NEW DELHI: BJP is likely to appoint a senior party leader each in-charge of poll-bound Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Delhi and Chhattisgarh when the party’s parliamentary board meets in New Delhi on Thursday.

The party is considering Leader of the Opposition Sushma Swaraj as in-charge for Madhya Pradesh, her Rajya Sabha counterpart Arun Jaitley for Rajasthan, Venkaiah Naidu for Chhattisgarh and Nitin Gadkari for Delhi.

Swaraj, an MP from Vidisha, had evinced interest in being made incharge of Madhya Pradesh. The BJP’s parliamentary board, of which Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi is also a member, is expected to take a final decision. However, the party appears to be in a dilemma over appointing a state in-charge for Delhi.

While there is no problem in the other three states, there are no takers for Delhi, where the faction-ridden party is gearing up to take on three-time Chief Minister Shiela Dikshit.

Party president Rajnath Singh had suggested to his predecessor Nitin Gadkari to take up charge of Delhi. However, Gadkari, who was earlier sounded out for Rajasthan, is not keen on handling Delhi.

Nitin Gadkari was hoping to be given charge of Rajasthan, where he had appointed Vasundhara Raje the state chief, despite her bitter relations with the RSS and other leaders like Gulab Chand Kataria.

Rajnath Singh was of the view that senior party leaders can be made in-charge of states heading for polls this year. BJP is pitted directly against Congress in all the four states where elections are expected to be held in November.

The party is also planning a similar strategy in the Lok Sabha polls, where a ‘chunav sahayak’ will be appointed in each constituency to oversee the elections.

The sahayak, a wholetimer , will be a party leader who has experience of fighting elections and will coordinate between the organisation and state and party leadership, a BJP leader told ET. The party will ensure that the sahayak is a party leader from outside the state, the leader said.