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BJP plans changes in party constitution

Rajesh Ramachandran in New Delhi

The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party has begun the process of reviewing its constitution. A committee has been formed at the party's central office to examine various suggestions. The review is expected to be completed within three months.

But the more urgent business of constituting the new team of party officials will be finalised after Kushabhau Thakre takes over as BJP president in Gandhinagar this weekend.

"The list has not been finalised yet. Thakreji may not announce the new team in Gandhinagar. He will have to go through the state's preferences. Most probably we can expect it after Thakreji returns to Delhi," a BJP source said on Saturday.

With the party running the central government for the first time, the BJP leadership intends to de-link the organisation from the administration; the constitutional review is an effort in this direction.

"Senior party vice-presidents Keshubhai Patel and Kalyan Singh are chief ministers in Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh respectively. Though there is no written one man, one post rule, this issue has to be settled as a number of senior leaders are members of the central government," says a senior BJP leader.

The last amendment of the party constitution -- on the membership issue -- was made almost six years ago by BJP vice-president Sunder Singh Bhandari, now Bihar's governor.

Another matter left unresolved is the duration of the president's tenure. The party constitution says a leader cannot remain BJP president for more than two successive terms of two years.

BJP sources reveal that L K Advani was inclined to change the clause to give an incumbent more time to build up the party, but would not do it while he remained president.

Choosiing members of Thakre's team has become a cumbersome process. Much pressure is being mounted by those BJP leaders who missed the bus during the formation of the government.

The apex national executive committee -- a 140 member body -- could now become 200 strong, according to BJP sources.

But the most cherished posts are those of the five general secretaries. After that, the seven vice-presidents's posts are sought after. Seven national secretaries round up the team.

Key strategist K N Govindacharya will retain the general secretary's post and may succeed Thakre as the general secretary in charge of the organisation.

M Venkaiah Naidu, a Rajya Sabha MP, has indicated his inclination to remain in the organisation rather than join the government. Narendra Modi, the national secretary in charge of Himachal Pradesh and Haryana, is tipped to become a general secretary.

National secretaries Sumitra Mahajan and Sangh Priya Gautam may be elevated to the general secretary or vice-president's posts.

Mahajan, the MP from Indore, could not be accommodated in the government, as was Gautam, an MP from UP. Gautam is a dalit which makes his choice politically correct.

Thakre may also decide to revive the organising secretary's post. Govindacharya could be made the organising secretary, a post which the BJP abandoned when it was formed in 1980. In its earlier avatar of the Bharatiya Jan Sangh, the organising secretary's post was one of the most powerful positions in the party hierarchy.

After the BJP was formed in March 1980, one of the five general secretaries looked after the organisation. Before he was unanimously chosen party president last month, Thakre looked after organisational affairs.

The organising secretary used to be a Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh pracharak loaned to the party. A pracharak is a whole-timer, most often a bachelor, dedicated to party work. Cadre building is his responsibility and he is expected to work away from the limelight.

Some party leaders are, however, opposed to reviving the organising secretary's post. "There is no need for such a post," says one leader, "since the party president is himself a pracharak who has always been an organisational man."

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