In a big organisation shuffle, the BJP on Tuesday named Union Minister G Kishan Reddy, Sunil Jakhar, and Babulal Marandi its president in Telangana, Punjab, and Jharkhand respectively. In a statement, the party has also announced that former Union minister D Purandeswari will be the new president for Andhra Pradesh and the OBC leader Etela Rajender is appointed as election management committee chairperson in the poll-bound Telangana.
The developments are in order to strengthen their house in Telangana, where many relatively new but powerful entrants were opposed to Bandi Sanjay Kumar’s leadership. The sources have revealed that Kumar might be inducted as a minister in the central government in a reshuffle in the coming days.
Ashwani Sharma has been replaced by Jakhar, while Marandi has substituted the place of Deepak Prakash.
The rejig is significant in the primacy given to the leaders who have joined the BJP from other parties. Jakhar and Rajender left the Congress and BRS respectively to join BJP. Purandeswari was in Congress and also served as a minister in the UPA government.