Ram Madhav, Vasundhara Raje return as BJP national vice-presidents

BJP president Nitin Nabin has appointed Ram Madhav and former Rajasthan chief minister Vasundhara Raje as national vice-presidents in the party's latest organisational reshuffle. Former Union minister Smriti Irani returns as a national general secretary after losing the 2024 Lok Sabha election. The appointments bring several senior leaders back into the BJP's central organisational structure.

Ram Madhav, 61, was a key RSS functionary before serving as BJP national general secretary from 2014 to 2020. Indiatoday.in describes him as a 'master tactician' who helped form the BJP-PDP government in Jammu and Kashmir in 2014 and orchestrated the BJP's expansion in the Northeast through the North-East Democratic Alliance. The outlet says his return restores a bridge between the RSS and the BJP at a time when the party is looking to expand its political footprint.

The reshuffle retains RSS-linked functionaries B.L. Santosh as national general secretary (organisation) and Shivprakash and Saudan Singh as joint general secretaries. Piyush Goyal returns as treasurer. Amit Malviya, who headed the IT Cell, is not in the new list. The Hindu Businessline notes that Nabin has shaped the political leadership around him while keeping continuity in the party's organisational structure.