News Analysis India

Tag: BJP Parliamentary Board

  • Yediyurappa shows clout as Jagdish Shettar returns to BJP

    Former chief minister Jagadish Shettar returned to the BJP on Thursday, months after quitting BJP. Shettar’s return is seen as an indication of Yediyurappa and son, Karnataka unit president Vijayendra, reestablishing their hold over the party, after the humiliating defeat BJP suffered in the May assembly polls.

    Shettar joined BJP in the presence of Union ministers Bhupender Yadav and Rajeev Chandrasekhar, Yediyurappa and Vijayendra. Yediyurappa, also a BJP Parliamentary Board member, said the party had got a boost with Shettar’s return.

    Shettar who kept a low profile in the Congress, resigned from the primary membership of the party and legislative council membership. There was speculation that BJP may field him in one of the seats in the Mumbai-Karnataka region for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.The development seemed to have caught Congress leaders by surprise. Chief minister Siddaramaiah told the media in Virajpet that his party treated the veteran with respect, and Shettar had told him he was not going back to the party which humiliated him. KPCC president DK Shivakumar said Shettar had told him even on Wednesday that he was not going back. Shivakumar later met another former BJP leader, Laxman Savadi and expressed confidence that no other leader would quit the Congress. Savadi clarified that he would not be join BJP. “Shettar made it clear that his resignation was personal, and he is doing politics according to his wishes,” he said.

    Shettar and Savadi had joined Congress when BJP denied them MLA tickets. Shettar lost the Hubli-Dharwad seat, but Savadi won from Athani. The two Lingayat leaders from North Karnataka may have provided Congress a boost in the support from the community during assembly polls.

  • Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath likely to find a place on BJP Parliamentary Board soon

    Express News Service

    LUCKNOW/NEW DELHI: The day-long visit of UP CM Yogi Adityanath along with the two Deputy CMs to Delhi on Monday led political circles in Lucknow go abuzz with speculation of his possible induction into the BJP Parliamentary Board, the apex decision making body, soon.

    The resounding win for a second consecutive term in the country’s politically most crucial state is being seen as the first step towards elevation of Yogi Adityanath’s political stature in the party by way of his likely ascension to the parliamentary board, where the only Chief Minister who is a member is Shivraj Singh Chouhan.

    The BJP’s highest decision-making body is its 11-member parliamentary board which takes important decisions about the party’s policy in Parliament and state legislatures.

    Currently, the elite Board has four vacancies which have resulted due to the demise of senior BJP leaders Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley, elevation of Venkaiah Naidu to the post of country’s Vice President and retirement of Thaawarchand Gehlot as leader of the Rajya Sabha.

    The seven remaining members include PM Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, BJP national chief JP Nadda, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Union minister Nitin Gadkari, MP CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan and party general secretary (Organisation) B L Santhosh.

    Meanwhile, according to highly-placed sources in Delhi, the existing four vacancies on the board are likely to be filled shortly to expedite the party’s policy-making process ahead of the assembly elections in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh. During the pandemic, the formal physical meetings of Parliamentary Board have been rare. As per the sources, it has been an exchange of ideas only among the big three, Modi, Shah and Nadda, and the decisions are communicated to other members. Nevertheless, for BJP leaders, sharing a post on the board is deemed to be an honour. “The victory in the recently concluded Assembly elections in the state has given a push to CM Yogi not only as UP CM but also as a senior leader who will also have a say in crucial decisions,” said a senior BJP leader.

    Moreover, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) has also been throwing its weight behind Yogi. In the UP Assembly election also, the RSS was pulling out all stops to ensure a second term for Yogi.

    “Besides Yogi, other names doing the rounds for induction into the coveted panel include Bhupendra Yadav, Piyush Goyal and one from SC,” sources said.

    Meanwhile, on Monday, after reaching Delhi along with his two deputies — Keshav Maurya and Brajesh Pathak — Yogi Adityanath met President Ramnath Kovind, PM Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP national chief JP Nadda. “Monday’s visit of UP CM Yogi Adityanath to Delhi to call on the PM and other senior BJP leaders might include discussions over his induction in the panel,” a senior leader at the party central office said.

    As per highly placed sources, the UP CM along with both the Deputy CMs, was expected to sit with the BJP top brass to discuss issues related to the state especially in the wake of the upcoming 2024 Lok Sabha elections.