BJP Excludes Vajpayee, Advani, MM Joshi From Parliamentary Board

TIR, New Delhi, 26 August: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)’s President Amit Shah has finally named members of the Parliamentary Board, the top most decision making body of the party. As was suspected earlier, veteran leaders Atal Bihari Vajpayee, LK Advani as well as Murli Manohar Joshi have been excluded from the board. The selection of the board members was done on the same criteria as that for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s cabinet, which does not have a single leader above the age of 75 years.

This generation shift has been evident ever since NDA took charge at the Centre. While one of the major agendas of the Modi-led government is youth empowerment, it is clear that the new administration is looking to have younger leaders in power who can provide a  fresh outlook and connect with the youth of the country.

However, in an attempt to offer some respite and maintain semblance among the party leaders, Amit Shah has formed a separate body for the senior leaders, namely the Marg Darshak Mandal. Apart from the three veteran leaders, the body also includes Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Rajanth Singh

Meanwhile, BJP leaders JP Nadda and Shivraj Singh Chouhan have been included in the 12-member Parliamentary Board.

Besides, Amit Shah and PM Modi the Parliamentary Board include, Rajnath Singh, Arun Jaitley, Sushma Swaraj, Nitin Gadkari, Venkaiah Naidu, Anant Kumar, Thawarchand Gehlot, JP Nadda and Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Ramlal.

On the other hand, the Congress mocked the new body, saying it was an old-age home for the leaders. The Congress leader Rashid Alvi said that the body should have been named ‘mook darshak mandal’ (silent spectators’ body) rather than Marg Darshak Mandal.