BJP chief Amit Shah on Monday appointed P.S. Sreedharan Pillai as the new president of party's Kerala unit. This will be the second innings as state chief for Pillai as he had held that post during 2003-06.
Pillai had also recently contested the Chengannur by-poll, where he came third and managed to get over 42,000 votes. The post of state president was vacant since May this year after Kummanam Rajasekharan was made the Mizoram governor.
Apart from Pillai, Shah announced a host of other party office bearers for national and state level. The key appointment is that of Tripura party in-charge Sunil Deodhar as co-incharge of Andhra Pradesh unit. He will assist Rajya Sabha MP V. Muraleedharan, who was made in-charge of the state. Muraleedharan was also Kerala BJP unit chief from 2010 to 2015.
Deodhar was instrumental in getting BJP to victory in Tripura early this year. However, after Biplab Kumar Deb was sworn in as the chief minister, there were reports of a rift between the duo. Known for his organisational skills, Deodhar has been chosen to energise the party in Andhra Pradesh where BJP is struggling to make inroads. After severing its ties with the TDP, the saffron party wants to expand in Andhra Pradesh where assembly elections will be held next year.
The new assignment for Deodhar has also come with a promotion. He has also been made party's national secretary as part of Shah's team. Satya Kumar was also made national secretary of the party while Dushyant Kumar Gautam was appointed as the new party vice-president.
Gautam's appointment was done keeping in mind the dalit factor. He will be the second dalit to hold the post along with Avinash Khanna. Gautam was party's SC Morcha chief earlier, but was replaced with Vinod Sonkar.