JAIPUR: Many fresh faces figure in the new State executive committee of the Bharatiya Janata Party announced here over the weekend. The choice of the team has been a balancing act of castes and region on the part of the new party chief Mahesh Sharma but what is obvious is the say Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje has had in the selection.

The 18-strong team of office-bearers and the 69-member executive have not many from the groups in the party represented by the outgoing president Lalit Kishore Chaturvedi or for that matter the other party stalwarts. The Udaipur-strongman and Home Minister Gulab Chand Kataria too did not fare well as the party balanced between him and the rival faction of Shanti Lal Chaplot, a former Speaker, and gave important posts to the neighbouring Chittorgarh district than to Udaipur.

The representation to Muslims is nominal while women account for 10 per cent of the members. There is no Muslim among the office- bearers while executive and the 73-member strong special invitees team have one Muslim each.

Prakash Chand, delegated by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, continues to hold the number two position in the organisation after the president, with the post of general secretary (Organisation). The team of six vice presidents-- Nandlal Meena, Nathu Singh Gujjar, Surendra Goyal, Rajednra Gehlot, V.P.Singh and Santosh Ahlawat— is a fine balance of caste.

The major upsets in the new list are in Onkar Singh Lakhawat and Arun Chaturvedi, who have been dropped as vice- president and general secretary. Ms.Raje's insistence was said to be the reason behind their exclusion. Both of them are supposedly close to Mr.Chatruvedi. What has added insult to Mr.Lakahwat's injury is the elevation of Srikishen Songara, his rival in Ajmer region, as one of the four general secretaries along with Prakash Chand, Srichand Kripalani and Satish Punia.

The non-inclusion of Satyanrain Gupta, general secretary in the outgoing executive and close associate of Ms.Raje, could be due to the fact that he already holds the post of the chairman of the State Grievances Redressal Committee.

The surprises in the new team include Dhruv Das, the youngest brother of Ramdas Agarwal, who has been made a secretary. There are a total of six secretaries and Mr.Dhruv Das has not been active in politics since his days with the Vidhayarthi Parishad, almost quarter of a century back. The other secretaries, Sunil Kothari, a jeweller and Narendra Nagar are also new faces while Kailash Bansali, a Jodhpur-based industrialist is a rank new comer.

Among the permanent invitees are former External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh, his son, Manavendra Singh MP, former Union Ministers Kailash Meghwal and Jaskaur Meena, Omprakash Mathur, Ramdas Agarwal, Nagma Heptullah, Gulab Chand Kataria and Ghanshyam Tiwari. The party seniors, J.P.Mathur, Harishankar Bhabra, Lallit Kishore Chaturvedi, Bhanu Kumar Sastri, Raghuveer Singh Kaushal and K.K.Goyal find a place in the Consultative committee.

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