Ram Madhav was shunted out from the BJP in 2020 ... His return as in-charge for Jammu and Kashmir in-charge for polls only signals 'RSS growing influence'

More than a mere organisational appointment, this is a signal. 

RSS leader Ram Madhav is back in the BJP fold. The party chief J P Nadda has appointed Ram Madhav onetime mercurial general secretary, as the election in-charge for ensuing polls in Jammu and Kashmir.

Madhav was shunted out from the BJP in September 2020 amid reports of sharp differences with then party's national president chief Amit Shah. His return shows the RSS’s growing influence after the Lok Sabha polls.

Is the move a reconciliatory step from Modi-Shah duo towards the Sanghparivar fountainhead ?

Beteween 2014 and Sept 2020, Ram Madhav was quite a powerful general secretary - almost working independently even as Amit Shah was the national president of the BJP. Ram Madhav held in-charge of Jammu and Kashmir and the northeastern states.  

Ram Madhav held a series of meetings with PDP leaders in 2014-15 and later also in 2016 and ensured formation of the PDP-BJP government in Jammu and Kashmir. 

As in-charge for Nagaland, Ram Madhav had played a pivotal role in giving back Neiphiu Rio - the post of state chief ministership. Ram Madhav was also the architect of the slogan 'Election for Solution' vis-a-vis Naga peace talks. 

In 2024 in the context of Jammu and Kashmir polls -- the first mega election after abrogation of Article 370,  Ram Madhav, however, has not been given a free hand as Union minister G. Kishan Reddy, seen close to Amit Shah, was jointly named in-charge of the elections. 

“BJP president J.P. Nadda has appointed former general secretary Ram Madhav and central minister G. Kishan Reddy as the election in-charge of Jammu and Kashmir for the upcoming Assembly elections,” a party communique said. 

Rajya Sabha Bypolls: BJP announces nine candidates

The party fielded Mission Ranjan Das and former Union minister Rameswar Teli as candidates from Assam.

The Rajya Sabha bypolls are crucial as they aim to fill vacancies left by the election of sitting members, including Union ministers Piyush Goyal, Sarbananda Sonowal, and Jyotiraditya Scindia, to the Lok Sabha. Additionally, bypolls will be held for two seats each in Telangana and Odisha.

Among the prominent candidates are Union ministers Ravneet Singh Bittu and George Kurian. Bittu will contest from Rajasthan, while Kurian is the party’s candidate from Madhya Pradesh.

The BJP has also chosen Mamata Mohanta, a former leader of the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) from Odisha, and Kiran Choudhary, a former Congress leader from Haryana, both of whom recently joined the BJP.

BJP has announced Manan Kumar Mishra for Bihar, Dhairyashil Patil for Maharashtra, and Rajib Bhattacharjee for Tripura. Bhattacharjee, who is the president of the BJP’s Tripura unit, is a key figure in the state’s political landscape.

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