Odisha’s Baijayant Panda Appointed BJP National VP For 3rd Time As Party Overhauled Ahead Of Polls

New Delhi: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Jagat Prakash Nadda on Saturday announced names of party’s central office bearers ahead of the elections. Odisha’s Baijayant Panda has been re-appointed as the National Vice President of the party for the third time in a row.

It may be noted here that Panda was appointed the National Vice President for the first time when Amit Shah was the party president. Subsequently, Panda was reappointed by J P Nadda. This is the third time he has been appointed to the senior position of the party ahead of the general elections due next year.

Apart from Panda, 12 other leaders have also been appointed as National Vice-Presidents of the saffron party in the overhaul.

Nadda rejigged the list of the party’s central office-bearers, bringing in a Pasmanda Muslim from Uttar Pradesh as one of its-vice presidents and accommodating its former Telangana unit chief Bandi Sanjay Kumar as a national general secretary.

Former Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) vice-chancellor Tariq Mansoor, now a BJP MLC in Uttar Pradesh, has been made a vice-president, a decision seen to be part of the party’s overtures to Pasmanda Muslims.

Most of the office-bearers have been retained as vice-presidents, general secretaries and secretaries in the new list.

There are 13 vice-presidents, nine general secretaries, including B L Santhosh as the in-charge of organisation, and 13 secretaries in the list.

Anil Antony, son of veteran Congress leader A K Antony, has been brought in as a national secretary.

Here is the complete list: