The Hindu : National : Five State BJP leaders losing job for poll debacle

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Five State BJP leaders losing job for poll debacle

Neena Vyas

Poor show in Delhi, Uttarakhand, Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan

Party didn’t win even a single seat in Delhi, Uttarakhand, Haryana
Leaders touring States to get information on performance below expectations

NEW DELHI: In what may be the beginning of a shake-up in the Bharatiya Janata Party’s organisational set-up, expected shortly, five State presidents are to be replaced simultaneously.

The heads of State units which performed “miserably” in the Lok Sabha elections have been asked or are being asked to send in their resignations to party chief Rajnath Singh. These are expected to be accepted in a few days.

Certain to be included in this process are Delhi, Uttarakhand, Haryana, Punjab and Rajasthan. In the first three States, the BJP did not secure a single seat, while in Punjab the party won just one of three seats it contested. In Rajasthan, the tally was just four of the 25 seats despite a “solid base” in the State.

Highly placed sources told The Hindu that State presidents Om Prakash Kohli(Delhi), Bachi Singh Rawat (Uttarakhand), Atma Ram Manchanda (Haryana), Rajinder Bhandari) and Om Mathur (Rajasthan) were to be replaced.

Party leaders from the Centre have already been touring the States to gather information on the debacle and arrive at the reasons for the below-expectation performance.

Earlier, it was thought that changes in the party would await completion of the organisational poll process beginning with the primary membership drive to be launched on July 6. However, it was felt, since that process would take eight or nine months the party could not afford to wait till then. The membership drive will continue at least till October-end, and it will be several months before the block, district and then State-level committees of office-bearers are set up.

Posts vacant

Positions of prabhari (in-charge of political affairs) in various States are lying vacant. Yashwant Sinha was the prabhari for Karnataka before he resigned all party posts. Arun Jaitley was in-charge of Uttar Pradesh before he was elected Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, and there is no prabhari for Bihar and Delhi at the moment, according to a senior leader. These positions could be filled soon.

The party is also expected to name leaders who will be in-charge of the Assembly elections due in Maharashtra, Jharkhand, Haryana and Arunachal Pradesh over the next 8-12 months.

Other major changes are expected only after the completion of the organisational polls when a new president will be in place. Although Mr. Rajnath Singh’s tenure ends in January 2010, the poll process could stretch a few months beyond that time, as is normally the case.

Corrections and Clarifications

Mr. Rajinder Bhandari, referred to in the fourth paragraph of a report "Five State BJP leaders losing job for poll debacle" (July 5, 2009), is the Punjab State unit President. The words "State President Punjab", given in brackets after Mr. Bhandari's name, were edited from the copy.

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