BJP to bring organisational changes after massive win in Bengal; focus on UP, Gujarat polls

New Delhi: As it scripts a stellar victory in Bengal, as well as a hat-trick in Assam, the BJP is poised to bring in some changes within the party as well as the government as it gears up for two tough battles next year — Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat.

The buzz of an organisational overhaul has been doing the rounds, and with Nitin Nabin taking over the reins of the party recently, it is now a matter of time. As per the party’s constitution, a president is entitled to bring in his own team. A new team of general secretaries, in-charges and presidents of several wings and departments, as well as a new CEC is expected in the coming weeks.

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The BJP is also keen to consolidate its forces before the UP assembly polls, considered a midterm mandate in the run up to the big 2029 wrestle. This is crucial for the BJP with its below-par result in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, and the big spectre of succession looming large.

The government is also likely to see changes, with a shuffle in the Modi Cabinet likely. Sources said that the BJP will need to accommodate some leaders due to caste calculations, as well as some alliance obligations.

A senior party leader, who has worked for the party in UP, said that the BJP’s next key focus apart from the two big states mentioned is Punjab. “For the BJP, Punjab is an important state, and we feel that there is a strong chance for the party in the state. It is a border state, and the drug trade is a huge problem there. With the AAP losing ground, we will definitely give it our best,” the leader said.

As the government called for a three-day extension to the Budget Session for the passage of an amendment to the Women’s Reservation Bill, alongside the delimitation bill, the BJP could once again try to bring it back in some form. As the stalling of the bills seemed to have brought the constituents of the I.N.D.I.A. Alliance together, the BJP is also likely to test Opposition unity in the Lok Sabha strategically as the Congress has distanced itself from the DMK and TMC.

In the two states where the BJP won big, Assam and West Bengal, a clear pitch was the issue of illegal immigrants, a rhetoric as well as a poll pitch that home minister Amit Shah keeps picking up in poll-bound states across the country. The issue could snowball into a larger narrative for the BJP in the 2029 Lok Sabha polls, and sources in the party indicated that attempts to tackle the issue might take centrestage in the party’s policies in the coming months.