Karnataka BJP leaders eye National General Secretary post

Bengaluru: Expecting big changes in the party set-up now that the BJP has a new national president in Mr Amit Shah, BJP leaders from Karnataka like Aravinda Limbavali, C.T. Ravi and R. Ashok are lobbying hard for the post of the national general secretary.

It is believed that Union chemicals and fertliser minister, Ananth Kumar, who is currently the national general secretary, could be stripped off the post along with many of his other responsibilities as he does not enjoy good relations with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Mr. Limbavali, who was party organising secretary for a long time, has been lobbying hard for the post as a result. But he has strong competition from former deputy chief minister Ashok, who is trying to scuttle his chances as he too is eyeing a post at the Centre. While Mr Ravi is also trying his best to persuade the party leadership to make him national general secretary, he, like the other two contenders for the post, is at a disadvantage as he has a problem communicating in Hindi, according to party sources.

Some in the party, however, believe, Mr. Ananth Kumar may not bow out easily and could use the influence of his mentor, L.K. Advani to retain his post and also work against the other state leaders vying for national positions in the party organisation.