Mumbai: The state BJP is meticulously following the party constitution in the run-up to the appointment of the party’s new state president, said the current state president Chandrashekhar Bawankule.
The attention to rules and procedures in the party’s constitution and its strict implementation follows the recent turmoil in Maharashtra, wherein Shiv Sena lost its claim to the party name and symbol as it did not follow its constitution while making appointments and issuing whips to party MLAs.
The BJP state president is appointed for a three-year term. While Bawankule was appointed in Aug 2022, he is now a cabinet minister in the Devendra Fadnavis 3.0 govt and so will give up the post of party (state) president. The new president is likely to be appointed on March 15 when the party’s internal process for enrolment and appointments is completed.
The party started its new membership drive on Jan 1, which will continue until Jan 20; it hopes to enrol five lakh active members. It will then appoint an in-charge for every polling booth in the state. There are 1.03 lakh polling booths. Two days prior to the assembly elections, PM Modi held a phone meeting with the party’s one lakh polling heads to understand their poll preparedness.
This will be followed by appointment of the taluka president and then district president. “BJP has established 750 talukas and is looking to add another 100 this time. We have 78 districts, for each of which a president will be appointed, and along with the president, three representatives from each district will be appointed to the state council. Generally, for appointment of state president, a motion is moved and it is seconded by another leader, and the state president is elected by a show of hands unless someone demands a secret ballot. In that case, four representatives from every district will cast their vote,” Bawankule said.