Rakesh Singh new MP BJP chief, Shekhawat to head Rajasthan unit

New Delhi, April 18 (IANS) The BJP on Wednesday appointed Rakesh Singh as the new President of the Madhya Pradesh unit of the party and finalised the name of Union Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat to be the party's new chief in Rajasthan.

The changes in the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)'s units come ahead of the 2018 assembly polls in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan.

"BJP President Amit Shah has appointed Rakesh Singh as the new BJP President in Madhya Pradesh," an official party statement issued by BJP General Secretary Arun Singh said here.

Rakesh Singh, an MP from Jabalpur parliamentary constituency in Madhya Pradesh, will replace Nandkumar Singh Chauhan, who was appointed the state BJP chief in August 2014 replacing Narendra Singh Tomar.

Nandkumar Singh Chauhan, an MP from Khandwa, resigned from the post on Tuesday after meeting Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan in Bhopal.

The other names discussed were Madhya Pradesh ministers Bhupendra Singh, Narottam Mishra, Rajendra Shukla and state BJP General Secretary V.D. Sharma.

In Rajasthan, the BJP has finalised the name of Minister of State for Agriculture Gajendra Singh Shekhawat as the new state BJP chief, informed sources said.

Shekhawat will replace Ashok Parnami, who resigned from his post on Wednesday.

Shekhawat, who is representing Jodhpur parliamentary constituency in Rajasthan, is on an official four-day visit to Greece. Sources in the party said that the announcement was likey to made when he gets back on April 21.

The BJP government in Rajasthan has been facing the ire of the Rajput community and its decision to appoint Shekhawat, a Rajput, is seen as an attempt to pacify the community.

Union Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Arjun Ram Meghwal, including MP Om Birla, was among the front-runners for the Rajasthan BJP chief's post.

Nandkumar Singh Chauhan, along with Ashok Parnami and Visakhapatnam (Andhra Pradesh) Lok Sabha MP K. Hari Babu, has been appointed members of the BJP National Executive by Shah.

According to informed sources, the decision to appoint the new BJP presidents in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan was made keeping in mind the assembly polls slated for later in 2018.

In recent bypolls in Alwar and Ajmer Lok Sabha constituencies and the Mandalgarh Assembly segment, the BJP had suffered a jolt as the voters of these constituencies elected Congress candidates.

The BJP also lost the recent assembly bypolls in Kolaras and Mungaoli in Madhya Pradesh.

(This story has not been edited by Social News XYZ staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)