Spotlight on Gorakhpur as RMD nominated BJP’s general secretary

LUCKNOW: The spotlight was on Gorakhpur as the BJP central leadership on Saturday chose four-time MLA and now Rajya Sabha member Dr Radha Mohan Das Agrawal as one of the eight national general secretaries in party president JP Nadda's team. In a shot in the arm to UP BJP in the run-up to the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, eight leaders from the state have made it to the national team.In a way, Agarwal thus is the third party leader from Gorakhpur to get central leadership recognition and subsequent elevation in recent years. First was Yogi Adityanath, who was Gorakhpur MP in 2017, when the central leadership decided to nominate him as UP CM. After Yogi, it was the turn of former UP minister Shivpratap Shukla.Shukla, who was in the wilderness after he lost to Dr Radha Mohan Das Agrawal — then a Hindu Mahasabha candidate — in 2002, was sent to Rajya Sabha and subsequently made minister of state for finance before being appointed as the governor of Himachal Pradesh only recently. After Shukla, Dr Agrawal is the third party leader to have been recognised by the central leadership. Until now, co-in charge of the BJP’s Kerala unit and in charge of the lone Lakshadweep Lok Sabha seat, Dr Agrawal has been elevated to the all-important general secretary's post.In 2022, Agrawal had to leave Gorakhpur City assembly seat as the party leadership decided to field Yogi Adityanath from there in his place as the party had also decided that if it comes to power for the second term, Yogi would continue to be the CM of the state.Two leaders from the state have been made national vice-presidents and two national general secretaries. In the outgoing team, there was just one vice-president and a general secretary in the national team. Besides Dr Agrawal, others who have found a place in Team JP Nadda include surprise entries of Laximkant Bajpai and former vice-chancellor of Aligarh Muslim University Tariq Mansoor as vice-presidents. Bajpai, who remained inactive for over six years after he was replaced as the state BJP chief by Keshav Prasad Maurya in 2016, was finally nominated as Rajya Sabha member in 2022 and subsequently made in charge of Jharkhand BJP and chief whip in Rajya Sabha.Among others, Arun Singh as general secretary, OBC face and two-time MP Rekha Verma as vice-president, Shivprakash as co-organisation secretary and Rajesh Agrawal as treasurer have been retained from the previous team.BJP’s West UP Gurjar face Surendra Singh Nagar is another new entry. He has been appointed as party secretary. Nagar was on party's duty in Rajasthan recently. Along with Alka Gurjar from Rajasthan, Nagar will be the second Gurjar in Team Nadda. However, no Jat has been included in the list which observers believe is an indication that the BJP will leave no stone unturned to bring Jayant Chaudhary-led RLD into the NDA-fold.