Rajnath's reshuffle may be a cautious exercise for BJP

The team - which may be announced on Sunday - is likely to be a mix of the young and the old guard and will have a Hindutva flavour

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Rajnath Singh is attempting to put his imprimatur on the team he would lead through the 2014 general elections. However, contending pulls and pressures makes this a tentative compromise.

The team, which might be announced tomorrow, is likely to be a mix of the old guard and young leaders and would have a Hindutva flavour. Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi is set to be included in the party’s parliamentary board.

A party source said party secretary and Member of Parliament (MP) from Pilibhit, Varun Gandhi, was likely to be made a general secretary, along with Uma Bharti. Senior party leader and Swadeshi Jagran Manch founder Murlidhar Rao and former Jharkhand chief minister Arjun Munda are also expected to be made general secretaries.

The source said Rajnath Singh was likely to retain Rajya Sabha MP Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi as party vice-president. “Besides, leaders such as Anurag Thakur, Shahnawaz Hussain and Rajiv Pratap Rudy are also likely to be given important posts. Former Madhya Pradesh BJP president Prabhat Jha is also being considered for the post of general secretary. Spokesperson Nirmala Sitharaman and Rajya Sabha MP Smriti Irani may be made general secretaries,” the source added. The party was treading cautiously on the matter of including former finance minister and Hazaribagh MP Yashwant Sinha and Amit Shah, a close aide of Modi, in the team, the source said. “The RSS (Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh) has certain reservations about Sinha, as he was vocal in demanding former president Nitin Gadkari’s resignation. Gadkari has put his foot down on Sinha’s inclusion. Shah’s involvement in fake encounter cases may hurt the party at a time when the general elections are round the corner. Instead, efforts are on to include some other leader from Gujarat,” he said.

For its media team, the party leadership is planning a reshuffle. Smriti Irani and Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha president Anurag Thakur are being considered for the posts of spokespersons.