PremiumNew Delhi: The long search of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for a new national general secretary (organisation) finally ended on Sunday after party president Amit Shah appointed B.L. Santhosh at the top post.
Santhosh, at present, is the joint general secretary of national BJP and he replaced Ramlal, the present general secretary (organisation) of the BJP. Santosh has worked as BJP's general secretary (organisation) for eight years in the party's Karnataka unit and was appointed national joint general secretary in-charge of southern states in 2014 by Amit Shah.
BJP had been looking for a new general secretary (organisation) for a long time as Ramlal had completed about 12 years in the party and RSS was keen to call him back for organisational work and responsibilities.
The post is crucial in the party as it was specifically created to appoint a pracharak or a full time member of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the ideological parent of BJP, at the top post.
The person acting as the general secretary (organisation) is the link between BJP and the RSS leadership.
The decision to choose Santhosh is interesting because he has been a general secretary (organisation) of the party’s Karnataka unit and instrumental in BJP's electoral and social growth in Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala.
Besides being a full time worker of RSS since 1993, Santhosh is an engineer and can fluently speak five languages -- English, Hindi, Kannada, Tamil and Tulu.
With a renewed focus of the party on southern states over the next years, Santhosh's appointed is expected to boost the image of the BJP in southern states. Even before Santhosh was appointed national joint general secretary, he was involved in the growth of the party in Tamil Nadu and Kerala while being the general secretary (organisation) of BJP in Karnataka.
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