The Hindu : Front Page : Venkaiah Naidu appointed BJP vice-president

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Friday, Apr 08, 2005

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Front Page

Venkaiah Naidu appointed BJP vice-president

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI, APRIL 7. The Bharatiya Janata Party president, L.K. Advani, today appointed Venkaiah Naidu as the vice-president.

Announcing this here, the general secretary, Arun Jaitley, said that Mr. Naidu had said that he would continue to work for the party but did not need a position, but Mr. Advani felt that a senior party colleague should work in a formal capacity. Mr. Naidu then agreed to work as vice-president.

Mr. Naidu had relinquished the post of BJP president after the Lok Sabha elections and the defeat in the Maharashtra Assembly elections last October.

He had said that he was resigning but would continue to work for the party without accepting any position.

He had cited his wife's ill-health as the main factor that led to the decision.

Mr. Naidu's appointment today is being seen in the party as formalising an existing arrangement.

As one senior leader said, ever since he relinquished the position of party president, and even before that, he was working as Mr. Advani's deputy.

Barring a vacancy in the position of general secretary the list of central party office-bearers is now complete.

The former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister, Uma Bharti, was to be given the position of general secretary but one controversy after another led to the postponement of that decision.

When Mr. Jaitley was asked whether Ms. Bharti would soon be made general secretary, he said so far there has been no decision to this effect.

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