New Delhi: The BJP has given high status at the national level to AP Abdullakutty and Tom Vadakkan, who left the Congress. Abdullakutty has been made the National Vice President by the party. Tom Vadakkan became the National Spokesman.
They are the only two from Kerala in the first reshuffle since J.P. Nadda became party president in January. Arvind Menon, a Delhi-based Malayalee, has been appointed National Secretary. Rajiv Chandrasekhar, an MP from Karnataka, was also made the national spokesperson.
Abdullakutty is the only member of the 12 National Vice Presidents from the Muslim community. He is currently the BJP state vice-president. He left the CPM and joined the Congress, where he quickly joined the BJP and rose to national leadership.
Abdullakutty’s unexpected arrival comes at a time when former state president Kummanam Rajasekharan and state vice president Sobha Surendran were hoping for positions at the national level. Tom, a Congress spokesman, left the party during the Northern Lok Sabha elections and joined the BJP.
Abdullakutty will be the National Vice President, along with former Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raja Scindia, former Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh, former Union Minister Radha Mohan Singh, former Jharkhand Chief Minister Raghubardas, and former Railway Minister Mukul Roy. Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated all of them.Tejaswi Surya, a young MP from Karnataka, has been appointed as the National President of Yuva Morcha. Poonam Mahajan, MP, daughter of late BJP leader Pramod Mahajan, has been replaced.
