With an eye on the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the Bharatiya Janata Party has appointed Sunil Bansal as the party’s national general secretary. Bansal has also been given charge of West Bengal, Telangana, and Odisha, three Opposition-ruled states where the saffron party plans to expand its footprint.
Bansal, who was the organisation general secretary of Uttar Pradesh, played a key role in BJP winning the elections in the state. His appointment as the party’s national general secretary ahead of the general elections holds significance as the BJP eyes more seats in West Bengal. The party also wants to emerge as the alternative force in Telangana and Odisha.
Bansal will be replaced by Jharkhand BJP general secretary (organisation) Dharampal in Uttar Pradesh, while the party's UP joint general secretary (organisation) Karamveer will replace Dharampal in Jharkhand.
Who is Sunil Bansal?
Bansal began his political career in Rajasthan as an activist of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), the student wing of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). He later rose to the level of the national joint organising secretary. He likes to maintain a low-key profile and shies away from publicity, preferring a backroom role.
What role did he play in Uttar Pradesh?
Known as the sangathan mahamantri, the general secretary (organisation) is appointed by the RSS and acts as a communicator between the RSS and the government in a state where the BJP is in power.
Before the 2014 elections, Union Home Minister Amit Shah brought Bansal to the BJP UP unit to assist him amid reports of uneasy relations between then BJP state president Lakshmikant Vajpayee and then general secretary (organisation) Rakesh Jain. He was instrumental in winning BJP 71 of the state's 80 Lok Sabha seats in 2014 and clinching a sweeping victory in the Assembly elections in 2017. Prior to that, Bansal served as a pracharak with the RSS and also worked with the ABVP.
Bansal is considered to be close to Shah and also enjoys good relations with UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath.
New role
Bansal has a challenge on his hands in Bengal, Telangana and Odisha. Coming from a business family, Bansal is said to have links in Bengal.
(Edited by : Priyanka Rathi)
