BJP Drops Shivraj, Gadkari From Its Parliamentary Board, Includes Yeddyurappa

New Delhi: A week after the Bharatiya Janata Party made a series of announcements in changes in its leadership positions in other state units, the party's top decision-making body has announced inclusion of Devendra Fadnavis and BS Yeddyurappa in its Central Election Committee (CEC).

On Wednesday, the party announced that under the leadership of J.P. Nadda, BJP has formed the Parliamentary Board and Central Election Committee under which 15 top BJP leaders' names have been listed. The announcement does not include Union Minister Nitin Gadkari and Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan from its parliamentary board.

The party, however, in a statement has said, "The new Parliamentary Board constituted by the Party shows how the Party rewards old workers and values the experience of its Karyakartas. People like BSY, Satya Narayan Jatia, K Laxman have given their lives to the party, building it brick by brick from the start."

"There is evidently an emphasis on diversity. Sarbananda Sonowal is from the Northeast, L Laxman and BS Yeddyurappa hail from the South. In Iqbal Singh Lalpura there is a Sikh. Sudha Yadav is a self-made political leader whose husband was martyred in Kargil. Her inclusion shows the topmost respect to women and families of the armed forces. Representation from the South and Northeast is at an all-time high of sorts," BJP has said in its official statement.

The other new members in the CEC involves BJP Mahila Morcha head Vanathi Srinivasan and Rajasthan leader Om Mathur. The parliamentary board members, which includes Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Minister Amit Shah, party president J.P. Nadda, will become part of the CEC. The party's parliamentary board is responsible for making day-to-day decisions taken on behalf of the national executive body.

The apex body of the BJP has been rejigged for the first time since J.P. Nadda took over as the party's president in 2020. With the exclusion of Madhya Pradesh C.M. Shivraj Singh Chouhan, the apex body has no BJP Chief Minister in the committee. The committee has also dropped the name of Shehnawaz Hussain, with no Muslim representative in the list.