by Harish Gupta, National Editor, Lokmat Group
special report
Nadda to fill 2 vacancies in Parliamentary Board
RACE begins between Nirmala & Irani
Piyush Goyal, Pradhan, Javadekar in the reckoning too
Harish Gupta
New Delhi, Jan. 22
With Jagat Prakash Nadda taking over as the President of the BJP, intense speculation has begun for two coveted posts in the party's Parliamentary Board.
All eyes are set on two women leaders – Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and Women & Child Development Minister Smriti Irani – as to who will make the cut in the powerful decision making body of the party. Two vacancies have been caused due to the untimely demise of Arun Jaitley and Sushma Swaraj last year. Currently, the board has eight members as Amit Shah did not fill these two vacancies when he headed the party. However, B L Santosh was inducted into the board as general secretary incharge of the organisation in place of Ram Lal last year. There are eight members in the board as of now and these vacancies are be filled shortly. It is expected that one vacancy caused by the demise of Sushma Swaraj will be filled by a woman leader.
Smriti Irani is claiming her right to be member of the Parliamentary Board as she trounced stalwart like Rahul Gandhi in Amethi and has been a star campaigner of the party. But she has been surrounded with controversies as well. The supporters of Nirmala Sitharaman say her performance as BJP leader had been outstanding and got one promotion after the other due to her performance and integrity. There is also speculation that Vijaya Rahatkar, president Mahila Morcha who is member of the Central Election Committee be brought to the board and a new woman member be sent to the CEC.
There are many in the queue for the seat that fell vacant due to the death of Arun Jaitley. Among them, the names of Railways & Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal, Petroleum & Steel Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, I&B and Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar are being mentioned. Another suggestion is that some one from the North East or West Bengal be inducted in the board.
J P Nadda will take a call on filling these vacancies once the process of organisational polls is completed within the next 15 days and parliament's Budget session recess in February.
Ends
