THE Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has given one more push to its organisational system to make it more future-ready -- in view of the Legislative elections in a few States, and also with the distant 2029 Lok Sabha election in 2029 in view. It has tried to make a happy mix of young and the experienced leaders to occupy various positions. Some leaders have staged a comeback -- such as former Union Minister Mrs. Smriti Irani. Some leaders such as Mr. Piyush Goyal have been given organisational responsibility -- of the national treasurer. Some old leaders such as Mrs. Vasundhrara Raje have been retained. The entire exercise appears to have been undertaken with a view to strengthening the party apparatus so that it can take on the bigger challenges of national politics of tomorrow.

 

There is a reason to believe that new President Mr. Nitin Nabin has been given a good team that mixes experience and youth in a fair measure. However, the current changes also give an impression that some more changes may also be made in the Government or the party system. The shifting of Union Minister Mr. Piyush Goyal as national treasurer has given rise to speculation that Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi may undertake a reshuffle of his Council of Ministers. This speculation has also given rise to another speculation that a Chief Minister or two from the BJP-ruled States may be shifted to the Centre with different portfolios in the Central Government. The reshuffle of the BJP national team, thus, suggests that the party may undertake some more changes and reforms in the party’s organisational structure. Possibly, this is the need of the BJP at this given time.

 

In the past two years since the last Lok Sabha elections, the party has done generally well, including the stupendous victory in West Bengal. Yet, the party is smarting under the shadow of its 240-seat tally in the Lok Sabha after the last parliamentary elections. Though Mr. Narendra Modi managed to form the Government at the Centre, the shock of only 240 seats against the background of the slogan Abki baar 400 paar will always haunt him at least until the next Lok Sabha elections in 2029. His efforts are obvious -- to ensure better electoral smartness and win a majority for the BJP on its own in Lok Sabha. The organisational reshuffle is the outcome of that anxiety. The reshuffle will assume certain completeness when the Central Council of Ministers also sees appropriate changes taking place.

 

Those changes are most likely to take place in the next couple of months. In the reshuffle of the Council of Ministers, Mr. Piyush Goyal may be replaced by somebody else in the Commerce Ministry. A few other Ministers, too, may get shunted out -- to be replaced by more useful persons from the vast ecosystem of the party. Political observers suspect that a couple of State Chief Ministers, too, could get a call to join the Central Cabinet. Many names are doing the rounds, but those names need not be brought out without any concrete input about the possible shift. Political observers attach much importance of the resurrection of Mrs. Smriti Irani as BJP’s General Secretary -- particularly against the background of speculations that her political career had been severely restricted. She is a dynamic person and can add a great push to any of the party’s endeavours in future. Her return to centrestage indicates how open the BJP’s central leadership is to creative ideas. The next political challenge to the BJP is going to be in the domain of narrative-management. The new team of the BJP will have to combat that effectively and lead the process of setting national narratives -- which the Opposition would respond to subsequently. That will be a crucial part of the political conflict in domestic politics in the next some years. The BJP appears gearing up for that challenge -- as indicated by the reshuffle in the organisation. There is no doubt that in the next some time, the BJP is going to keep the Opposition guessing on most issues. It appears to have decided to offer a mix of aggressive and accommodative posturing on most issues -- to keep the Opposition confused and speculating naively.