Bandi Sanjay Kumar; Smriti Irani.
New Delhi: As part of an organisational reshuffle ahead of elections in many states, BJP president Nitin Nabin on Monday, August 17, appointed the party’s national office-bearers.
In a major upset for Telangana, Bandi Sanjay Kumar, who was a national general secretary, has been dropped. He serves as the Union Minister of State for Home Affairs. He had earlier served as the party’s Telangana chief as well. Representing the Karimnagar Lok Sabha constituency, he is a party heavyweight who takes keen interest in state politics as well.
In Telangana, Bandi Sanjay has been in the news over the POCSO case involving his son, Bandi Sai Bhageerath. A minor’s mother filed an FIR this May, alleging that Bhageerath had sexually assaulted her daughter.
Bhageerath denied all allegations, filing a counter-complaint claiming that the girl’s family threatened him and attempted to extort Rs 5 crore from him.
The new team includes prominent leaders such as Manpreet Singh Badal, Smriti Irani, and Vasundhara Raje, politicians with years of experience from across the country.
Ram Madhav, a lifelong RSS pracharak, has also made it to the national VP list.
Irani, who is coming back as one of the party’s general secretaries, has served on the Union Cabinet, holding multiple important portfolios.
Vasundhara Raje Scindia, a former chief minister of Rajasthan, is one of the national vice-presidents.
Manpreet Singh Badal, a Congress leader earlier, joined the BJP in 2023. He has been Punjab finance minister.
The BJP shared the lists on X.
A big development is the return of former Union minister Smriti Irani to a core organisational role as one of the national general secretaries of the BJP. Another key name that appeared is former Rajasthan chief minister Vasundhara Raje.
This post was last modified on August 17, 2026 3:57 pm