New Delhi, March 16: Virtually returning the favour, BJP president Nitin Gadkari, who was the RSS man for the party’s top job, inducted over a  dozen Sangh men in his new team on Tuesday.

As reported earlier by this newspaper, Bollywood icon and yesteryears “dream girl” Hema Malini and television actress Smriti Irani were inducted as vice-president and secretary respectively. Actress Kiron Kher (wife of Anupam Kher) was also brought in as a member of the party’s national executive. These stars are expected to work as crowd-pullers.
Mr Tarun Vijay, former editor of RSS mouthpiece Panchajanya, became one of the six BJP spokespersons; while Pilibhit MP and emerging Hindutva icon Varun Gandhi was named one of its 15 secretaries. Another RSS man, Mr Ram Nath Kovind, who headed the BJP’s scheduled castes cell, was also appointed as a party spokesperson. Senior party leader Yashwant Sinha, who had questioned the leadership over the debacle in the 2009 Lok Sabha polls, was completely marginalised. He is now just a member of the national executive.
Sources said BJP parliamentary party chairman L.K. Advani successfully blocked the entry of former Goa chief minister Manohar Parrikar as a general secretary. It may be        
 recalled that following Mr Advani’s reluctance last year to step down as Leader of the Opposition, Mr Parrikar had reportedly compared him to a “rancid pickle” in an interview. Mr Gadkari is also expected to bring back former general secretary (organisation) Sanjay Joshi, another RSS man, as a vice-president. Mr Joshi was earlier forced to quit his post following a sex-CD scandal.
Mr Ram Lal, a RSS swayamsevak, continued to hold the powerful position of general secretary (organisation). Of the 10 general secretaries appointed by Mr Gadkari, four are RSS men. They include, besides Ram Lal, Narendra Singh Tomar, Thavar Chand Ghelot and Jagat Prakash Nadda. While Mr Ram Lal and Mr Ghelot were retained, both Mr Tomar and Mr Nadda were brought in as general secretaries in the new team.
Mr V. Satish and Mr Saudan Singh, who were earlier joint secretaries (organisation), have now been promoted to joint general secretaries (organisation) in Mr Gadkari’s team.
Ms Vasundhara Raje, who was recently forced to step down as Leader of the Opposition in the Rajasthan Assembly, was also inducted as a party general secretary. Mr Vijay Goel, despite losing in the Lok Sabha polls from Delhi, managed to survive as one of the general secretaries. Mr Ananth Kumar was also retained as a a general secretary. Mr Ravishankar Prasad, who was spokesperson when Mr Rajnath Singh was BJP chief, was not only promoted to chief spokesperson but also made a general secretary. Others inducted in the same post include former Jharkhand chief minister Arjun Munda and former BJP youth wing president Dharmendra Pradhan.
Some of the RSS men inducted into the party’s organisational setup include Mr Bhagat Singh Koshiyari (vice-president), Mr Kirit Somaya (secretary), Mr Kaptan Singh Solanki (national executive member) and Nana Shamkule (national executive member). Mr Vinay Katiyar, a hardliner, was made a vice-president.
Mr Gadkari also got some close associates into the organisation. These include Ms Vani Tripathi, a TV serial artist, as a secretary, and his political adviser, Vinay Sahasrabuddhe, as a national executive member.
While Mr Rajnath Singh got some close associates into the organisation, none of Mr Arun Jaitley’s loyalists could manage to secure any coveted berth. The Rajnath men who found a place in the Gadkari team include Mr Murlidhar Rao (secretary).
The party also retained its minority faces. Mr Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi continues as a vice-president, while Mr Shahnawaz Hussain, who was tipped for a general secretaryship, could only become one of the spokespersons. Ms Najma Heptullah was also brought in as one of 11 vice-presidents.
There were no changes in the party’s powerful 12-member parliamentary board, which is dominated by heavyweights like Mr Gadkari himself, Mr L.K. Advani, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee, Dr Murli Manohar Joshi, Mr Rajnath Singh, Mr Arun Jaitley, Ms Sushma Swaraj and Mr M. Venkaiah Naidu, among others.

Yojna Gusai