With the inauspicious Adhi Maas period ending on June 15, the process of giving final touches to the new team of central Vice Presidents, general secretaries, secretaries and heads of BJP morchas will begin and the announcement is expected before the end of the month, party sources said.
Nabin, a Gen-X leader at 46 years of age, is likely to have a young team with some party veterans being inducted as vice presidents. As the party is trying hard to make inroads into the southern states where its electoral performance continues to be dismal, some key responsibilities are likely to be given to leaders from these states while crucial states like Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Bihar and West Bengal will continue to get due importance.
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The vacancies of general secretary (organization)- which is occupied by RSS exports to the party- in some states will also be filled in the coming days, sources said.
While a reshuffle of the union council of ministers is also expected soon, it is not clear if it will precede the appointment of Nabin’s team.
BJP sources maintain union minister Ravneet Singh Bittu, who was denied another term in the Rajya Sabha, will get a key role in Punjab elections. A Jat Sikh and grandson of late Punjab chief minister Beant Singh who was assassinated by terrorists, Bittu is close to Home Minister Amit Shah. Another minister, George Kurian, who was also denied a Rajya Sabha nomination, may be adjusted in a Raj Bhavan.Also read | A key new force is emerging in India’s consumer goods market
A few more members of the union council of ministers are likely to be dropped or get other responsibilities. Two union ministers Pankaj Chaudhari and Harsh Malhotra have been appointed state unit chiefs of Uttar Pradesh and Delhi BJP respectively. This will lead to two vacancies in Modi’s team. Petroleum Minister Hardeep Singh Puri and Minister of State for Social Justice BL Verma will complete their Rajya Sabha term on November 25, 2026. Verma, a prominent Kurmi leader from UP, may get another term due to the Assembly elections in the state in February 2027. The Opposition has been gunning for the resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over the NEET paper leak controversy.
The Rajya Sabha nomination of BJP general secretary Tarun Chugh has created a buzz that he may be inducted into the union council of ministers. One of the Punjab AAP Rajya Sabha MPs who defected to BJP is also likely to make it to Modi’s ministry.
Meanwhile, the NDA leaders will meet in Delhi on Wednesday to felicitate Modi on becoming the prime minister with the longest consecutive tenure in office by being in power for 4399 days, surpassing Jawaharlal Nehru’s term as elected PM from 1952 till his death on May 27, 1964. This does not include Nehru’s term as interim PM from 1947 till the first elections in Independent India in 1952. Indira Gandhi was prime minister for 5829 days but this was with a break from 1977 to 1980.
