‘Glamorous role but…’: Poonawalla on buzz that he should have succeeded Malviya

Deepak Mhaskey was named the social media convenor as the BJP announced a rejig in the party.

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) national spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla on Monday dismissed buzz that he should have replaced Amit Malviya as the social media head, as the party dropped the latter as part of a major rejig.

Deepak Mhaskey was named the social media convenor while Priti Gandhi, Shivanand Dwivedi, Alok Bhatt and Arun Yadav were appointed co-convenors.

“Malviya did a lot of hard work but the party also needed some change. He worked so hard for West Bengal. I feel Deepak and his team will bring fresh energy to the party. It is not right to say he was removed from the post,” Poonawalla told News24.

Also Read | BJP chief Nitin Nabin announces party reshuffle; Smriti Irani, Ram Madhav among list

He was responding to a question on claims made on social media that he ought to oversee the party’s social media affairs.

Poonawalla, who has quit the party and has urged the BJP to accept his resignation, said: “I have no interest. It's not as easy as you think. The task looks glamorous from the outside but is very difficult."

The BJP earlier in the day announced a new team of national office-bearers, seven months after appointing Nitin Nabin as its 12th national president.

Among them is former minister Smriti Irani, who has been appointed as one of the party’s eight national general secretaries. Senior party leader Ram Madhav, a former national general secretary, has been appointed as party vice president.

Former Tripura chief minister Biplab Kumar Deb has been appointed as national general secretary.

Union minister Piyush Goyal has been appointed treasurer, a post he held from 2010 to 2014, and Anil Baluni has been retained as media in charge.

“Congratulations to the newly appointed National Office Bearers of the BJP and those who have been given various responsibilities in the Party. This newly appointed team brings together organisational experience, energy and grassroots connect. I am confident they will give their best in strengthening our Party and focusing on public service. My best wishes to them,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi wrote on X.

Also Read | Shehzad Poonawalla explains why he quit BJP, says ‘will continue to support party's ideology’

In all, the party announced eight national general secretaries, retaining only Vinod Tawde and Sunil Bansal. Tawde and Bansal played key roles as election in-charges in a number of state polls and have been retained, with the upcoming assembly elections in mind, including in the politically significant Uttar Pradesh early next year. While Bansal played a key role in West Bengal, Tawde was in charge of the Kerala polls and has been the state in-charge for Bihar, overseeing the transition from Nitish Kumar stepping down as chief minister to Samrat Choudhary taking over.

Also Read | Shehzad Poonawalla 'presses' BJP to accept resignation after first letter rejected

Meanwhile, Poonawalla said he has resigned from all positions and primary membership of the party. He said he has submitted his resignation letter to Nabin, requesting him to accept it.

He also posted his resignation letter on X, which stated that he had written to Nabin, offering "to resign unconditionally" from all positions and primary membership of the BJP on July 30 due to "pressing financial and personal circumstances."

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