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    COVER STORY                                                           AUGUST 28, 2026      |  The Indian Eye                    5

            national vice presidents are women,                                                                   which leadership will gradually broad-
            while Roop Kumari Choudhary has                                                                       en.  Nabin’s  own  elevation  as  party
            been placed in charge of the Mahila                                                                   president is part of that process.
            Morcha. Leaders such as Kavita Pati-                                                                      His new team therefore has two
            dar and Sangeeta Yadav also feature                                                                   tasks  running  simultaneously.  In  the
            among the national secretaries.                                                                       immediate term, it must deliver elec-
                The emphasis on women is strate-                                                                  toral  results.  In  the  longer  term,  it
            gically important for the BJP because                                                                 must help create an organization ca-
            women voters have emerged as an                                                                       pable of sustaining the BJP’s political
            increasingly consequential electoral                                                                  expansion beyond its current leader-
            constituency. The party has also built                                                                ship generation.
            much of its welfare politics around                                                                       The 2027 elections will provide
            schemes and initiatives targeted at                                                                   the  first  major  test.  Uttar  Pradesh,
            women, making organizational repre-                                                                   Punjab and Gujarat will demand dif-
            sentation a natural extension of that                                                                 ferent political strategies, while sever-
            political strategy.                                                                                   al other states will require the BJP to
                The new team also gives the BJP                                                                   deepen its organizational presence.
            a stronger mix of political and profes-                                                                   The new team suggests that Nabin
            sional  profiles.  Piyush  Goyal  contin-                                                             is  not  attempting  a  wholesale  break
            ues as national treasurer, while Tarun                                                                with the past. Instead, he is building
            Chugh takes charge of the central of-                                                                 on the BJP’s existing organizational
            fice. Anil Baluni continues as media                                                                  model while widening its social and
            convenor, providing continuity in the                                                                 geographical reach.
            party’s communications apparatus.                                                                         That may ultimately be the most
                                              Prime Minister Narendra Modi remains the party’s main face when it comes to connecting with   important message from the appoint-
            At the same time, the appoint-                       the young (@narendramodi X/ANI Photo)            ments. The BJP is choosing evolution
                                                                                                                  rather than disruption — keeping ex-
            ment of Deepak Mhaskey as                                                                             perienced  hands  at  the  center  while
            social media convenor points to   state and has historically been central   toral machine.            giving younger leaders  greater  re-
                                                                                                                  sponsibility.
                                              to the BJP’s national electoral strate-
                                                                                    This is where the balance be-
            the growing importance of digi-   gy. Patel, who has been involved with   tween veterans and younger leaders   Prime Minister Narendra Modi
            tal political communication. The   the Varanasi Lok Sabha constituency,   will be tested. Senior leaders bring in-  remains the central political and orga-
                                              has said his priority will be to take the   stitutional memory, political networks   nizational reference point for the new
            BJP has long been one of India’s  government’s development narrative   and  experience  of  difficult  electoral   BJP team. The appointments under-
            most sophisticated political      to the grassroots.                battles.  Younger  leaders  bring  ener-  line an effort to translate his nation-
                                                  His appointment illustrates an-  gy, digital familiarity and potentially   al vision into a wider organizational
            organizations in using social  other aspect of the new strategy: the   greater connect with emerging voter   framework, particularly the goal of
            media, and the continuation of    BJP wants its organizational machin-  groups. The BJP’s success will depend   building  a  “Viksit  Bharat”  by  2047.
                                              ery to translate government achieve-  on how effectively these strengths are   Modi’s political strength has rested
            that emphasis suggests that the  ments into a direct political message at   integrated.               not only on electoral appeal but also
                                                                                    There is also a political transition
            party sees  digital outreach as   the constituency and household level.  dimension to the exercise. The BJP’s   on the BJP’s ability to take his mes-
                                                                                                                  sage from the national stage to the
                                                  The challenge for Nabin will be
            central to its future campaigns.  to ensure that the national team does   current national leadership remains   grassroots. The new team is expected
                                              not remain a collection of prominent   dominated by the Modi-Shah era, but   to perform precisely that function.
                The  appointment  of  Hemang   names but becomes an effective elec-  the party has to prepare for a future in   By combining experienced lead-
            Joshi to head the Yuva Morcha adds                                                                    ers who understand the party’s es-
            another  dimension.  If  the  national                                                                tablished machinery with younger
            organization is meant to combine ex-                                                                  faces capable of engaging new con-
            perience  and  youth,  the  youth wing                                                                stituencies, the organization is being
            will be an important testing ground                                                                   prepared to sustain the Modi-era
            for developing the next generation of                                                                 political momentum while gradually
            BJP leaders.                                                                                          building a broader leadership bench
                The state-level appointments                                                                      for the future
            announced immediately afterwards                                                                          For a party that is already nation-
            show that the new national team is al-                                                                ally dominant, the challenge is no lon-
            ready being linked to electoral priori-                                                               ger simply expansion. It is maintaining
            ties. Vinod Tawde has been appointed                                                                  momentum, broadening its appeal
            Uttar Pradesh in-charge, with Jagdish                                                                 and preparing an organization that
            Ishwarbhai  Patel  as  co-in-charge.                                                                  can remain electorally competitive
            Satish Poonia has been given respon-                                                                  across generations.
            sibility for Punjab, while Tarun Chugh                                                                    Nitin Nabin’s new team is there-
            has been assigned Gujarat.                                                                            fore less about replacing the old BJP
                The  choices  are  significant  be-                                                               than about preparing the organization
            cause all  three states face Assembly                                                                 for its next phase — one in which ex-
            elections in 2027.                                                                                    perience provides continuity, youth
                Uttar Pradesh will naturally be the                                                               provides renewal and wider represen-
            biggest organizational challenge. It is   Former MP and minister Smriti Irani is back in the party’s main team (ANI Photo/Neeraj)  tation becomes essential to sustaining
            India’s most politically consequential                                                                a truly national political footprint.

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