Team Settled, On Nitin Nabin's To-Do List - Parliamentary Board, Poll Panel

BJP President Nitin Nabin's team settling down, anticipation is now high over a reshuffle in the party's highest decision-making body - the Parliamentary Board. Under the party constitution, the Board is empowered to recommend appointments for positions such as Prime Minister and Chief Minister. It also holds the authority to form alliances, make policy decisions, and initiate disciplinary actions. All members of the Parliamentary Board also serve on the Central Election Committee, which finalises candidates for elections.

It is likely that Nitin Nabin will soon constitute the Parliamentary Board, the Central Election Committee, the National Executive, and the National Council. The party's National President serves as the ex-officio chairman of the Parliamentary Board, while a General Secretary is appointed as its secretary. Senior leaders are typically included in the Parliamentary Board, with special attention paid to regional, caste, and religious equations during its formation.

According to the BJP constitution, the board can have a maximum of 11 members (including the president), though it currently has 12 members. 

The current members include Nitin Nabin, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Home Minister Amit Shah, Health Minister JP Nadda, former Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa, Union Minister Sarbananda Sonowal, OBC Morcha President Dr K Laxman, Dr Iqbal Singh Lalpura, Dr Sudha Yadav, and Dr Satyanarayan Jatiya. National General Secretary (Organizstion) BL Santhosh has been appointed as the Secretary of the Parliamentary Board.

Questions have been raised regarding the exclusion of several prominent leaders from the current Parliamentary Board. 
BJP sources, however, dismiss these claims, saying seniority was taken into account during the board's formation and that representation has been provided to SC, ST, and minority communities.

Chief Ministers' Membership

The Chief Minister of a BJP-ruled state was also included as a member of the Parliamentary Board; however, this practice has previously been a subject of controversy. When Rajnath Singh became party president in 2006, he removed then-Chief Minister Narendra Modi from the Parliamentary Board - a body Modi had joined during the tenure of former president LK Advani. 

Modi was reinstated as a member in 2013 after becoming the Prime Ministerial candidate; however, Shivraj Singh Chouhan, then-Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh, was also inducted into the board at the same time. 

Another controversy arose in 2022 when JP Nadda, upon assuming the presidency, removed Madhya Pradesh CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan and former national president Nitin Gadkari from the Parliamentary Board.

The argument against including a Chief Minister in Parliamentary Board is that the board is responsible for selecting the Chief Minister; therefore, a sitting Chief Minister should not be a member of it. 
Now many are questioning which of the BJP's seventeen Chief Ministers should be included? 

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis is currently a member of the Central Election Committee but not the Parliamentary Board. Senior Chief Ministers like Yogi Adityanath (Uttar Pradesh) and Himanta Biswa Sarma (Assam) also have strong claims for inclusion.

Additionally, the BJP president must decide whether to retain JP Nadda on the Parliamentary Board in his capacity as a former president. If Nadda remains on the board, the question will arise as to whether Nitin Gadkari - also a former president - should remain a member.

The Central Election Committee also needs to be constituted. This body comprises all members of the Parliamentary Board along with several other leaders. 

Currently, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, Union Minister Bhupender Yadav, and former Mahila Morcha president V. Srinivasan are members. Now, with Roop Kumari Chaudhary serving as the Mahila Morcha president, she will become an ex-officio member of the Central Election Committee. It remains to be seen whether Nitin Gadkari will retain Fadnavis and Yadav as members or make way for new faces.

Nitin Gadkari will also constitute the National Executive, which is the party's principal executive body. Apart from the president, it can have a maximum of 120 members. Mandatory quotas require that at least 40 members be women and 12 from the SC/ST categories. 

Furthermore, the national president has the authority to nominate special invitees and permanent invitees as deemed necessary. A National Council will also be constituted, comprising members elected by state councils, 10 percent of the members of the parliamentary party, all former party presidents, leaders in state legislative assemblies and legislative councils, all members of the National Executive, presidents of all national party fronts, and up to 20 members nominated by the National President.