BL SANTHOSHEver since Santosh became the national general secretary, organisation, he has completely changed the way this post was looked at within or outside the party. His predecessors were more like backroom people who kept away from the limelight.But Santhosh is very visible in the BJP, and does not shy away from expressing himself on Twitter.
Most of the time he is on tour to the states where the party sniffs any trouble. He is just back from a two-day trip to Tripura, where some of the MLAs are unhappy with the government. Before that he was in Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh to review the election preparedness of the party. He is also known for spotting talent and promoting it within the party. National general secretary CT Ravi and MPs Tejashwi Surya and Pratap Simha owe their rise to him.BHUPENDER YADAVHe is the BJP’s go-to man for any state heading for election. As in-charge of Bihar, be it making a deal with Nitish Kumar on seat-sharing or playing an important role in government and cabinet formation, Yadav was involved at every stage.
Immediately after Bihar, he went on to handle Greater Hyderabad Municipal election, where the party did extremely well. Right now, he has been deputed in Gujarat to deliver the state in 2022. Besides, he plays an important role in Parliament for the BJP. His biggest strength is his connect to the ground. Whenever he is in Delhi, he meets people for two hours in the morning at the party office.ARUN SINGHHe has the responsibility of two important states – Karnataka and Rajasthan. He is also in-charge of the party’s head office, and all appointments bear his signature.
He is a man for all seasons, with a power to convince everyone. During last year’s Rajya Sabha election in Jharkhand, it looked difficult for the BJP to get the seat. Arun Singh was sent there and within a day he managed to take Sudesh Mahto’s AJSU on his side and the party won the seat. He strictly follows the orders of the high command and executes it in states where he is sent as observer. He is known to keep party secrets strictly to himself. Ravindra Raju was sitting with Singh in November last year on the day when Raju was appointed general secretary (organisation) of Haryana. Singh signed on his appointment file in his presence. But Raju came to know only when it was released to the media.KAILASH VIJAYVARGIYAHe is one general secretary who also has mass appeal in parts of Madhya Pradesh. As election in-charge of Haryana, he got several Congress and INLD leaders to join the BJP and played a role in ticket distribution. Haryana was his first big success.
In West Bengal, he played a crucial role in making the BJP the second largest party both in Parliament and assembly. He is known for his massive BJP joining drives in West Bengal. Vijayvargiya is currently awaiting a new role after the West Bengal assembly election. Besides, he has considerable stake in MP state politics.SHIV PRAKASHShiv Prakash is the only joint general secretary (organisation) in the BJP and has an expanded role now. He was a little-known leader before he delivered western UP for the BJP in 2014 Lok Sabha election. Prakash was then stationed in West Bengal to change the party fortunes.
He is credited with building a grassroots network for the BJP in Bengal. Whenever reports of internal power struggle between Dilip Ghosh and Mukul Roy came to the fore, the leadership trusted Shiv Prakash to manage the situation. In December last year, along with West Bengal, Prakash was given Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. He is now trying to strengthen the party on the ground in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. He is the man behind planning and organising party protests against the post-poll violence in West Bengal.
Source: Economic Times
