Ahead of the Assembly polls in the desert state of Rajasthan due this year, the Bharatiya Janata Party released a list of its new office-bearers as part of its reconstituted state executive committee.
The announcement comes three months after CP Joshi took over as the state BJP president.
The new BJP state executive follows the one that was formed in 2020 during the tenure of Satish Poonia who led the committee between 2019 and 2023.
According to BJP sources, the new names in the list have been included after considering their ability to strengthen the party’s organisation, reported The Indian Express.
There are 11 state vice-presidents, five general secretaries, 11 secretaries, one treasurer, and a co-treasurer in the new 29-member list.
The highlight of the list is the name of Baba Balak Nath Yogi who is a one-time MP from Alwar. He has been appointed as a state vice-president of the party.
Balak Nath defeated Bhanwar Jitendra Singh, a Congress stalwart in Alwar, in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. Since then, the BJP leader has consistently attacked the Congress over issues such as the demolition of a temple in Alwar by local authorities and even compared the grand old party to the Mughals.
The rise of Balak Nath, who is from the OBC Yadav community, has been a concern for the Ashok Gehlot-led Congress government in the state.
Balak Nath, who always dons saffron clothes and is mahant of Nath community’s Mastnath math, is often called “Yogi of Rajasthan”, a reference to Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath, because of his Hindutva stance.
This Mastnath math is located in Rohtak and is considered second to Gorakhnath math of Gorakhpur in Nath traditions.
Being just 38 years old, Balaknath is a rising star in the state BJP unit and his electoral debut was marked by a victory margin of more than 3 lakh votes. Since then, he has been quite active in public life.
While former state BJP chief Poonia had included Raje detractor Madan Dilawar in the previous executive, the MLA’s name is missing from the latest list.
Dilawar, who was sidelined during Raje’s rule, attracted attention by making a comeback during Poonia’s reign. While BJP’s Rajsamand MP Diya Kumari, another Raje detractor and a member of the erstwhile royal family of Jaipur, has retained her position.
The new list also has a good balance of castes and communities with one of the newly appointed vice-presidents being Sukhbir Jaunapuriya, an MP from Tonk-Sawai Madhopur and a member of the Gujjar community. Former MPs CR Choudhary and Santosh Ahlawat represent the Jat community while former minister Prabhulal Saini represents Saini community.
In a bid to woo the SCs and STs ahead of the elections, these communities also feature on the list.