Senior connect: How BJP plans to engage its silver-haired veterans
New Delhi: Before Suvendu Adhikari took oath as West Bengal’s first BJP chief minister last month, Prime Minister Narendra Modi touched the feet of 98-year-old Makhan Lal Sarkar, hugged him, and listed out his achievements.
Calling the BJP veteran a “devout nationalist”, the PM said Sarkar had worked with Dr. Syama Prasad Mookerjee and was even arrested in Jammu and Kashmir while accompanying him. “He dedicated his life to our party, expanding its base across West Bengal, inspiring people from all walks of life to join the party. We in the BJP are proud that we have such motivating figures who have worked among the people and strengthened our party,” Modi had posted on X.
A month after that meeting, the BJP has appointed senior RSS functionary Nagendra Nath Tripathi (71) as the party’s national organiser tasked with a new assignment—outreach to senior workers.
Tripathi, who has served as the regional organisation secretary (‘Kshetriya Sangathan Mantri’) for Bihar and Jharkhand, will now be based in Delhi.
Many within the BJP view this appointment as an extension of the party’s outreach to “senior karyakartas” of the party. According to party sources, a team will assist Tripathi and is likely to carry out visits across the country to connect with veteran leaders, collect feedback and apprise the central leadership of any grievances they may have.
A BJP leader recounted how Modi, while interacting with Varanasi party workers way back in 2019 too had urged BJP workers to draw up a list of old and senior party workers and establish a connection with them.
“This appointment must be seen in context; work on it was going on for quite some time. PM Modi has been stressing on the fact that senior party leaders and veterans who have toiled hard and given their youth to the party are in fact the backbone of the BJP. The PM has been regularly directing the party cadre to stay connected with them, seek their guidance, and honour their contributions,” said a senior party leader.
He added that the latest appointment aims to bridge the gap. “Aise kayi varisht neta aur karyakarta hai jo party offices ki parikrama nahi karte lekin unke paas dene ko bohot gyaan aur sujhaav hai. The idea is to connect with them and learn from their experiences too,” remarked another senior party leader.
A BJP functionary told ThePrint: “At the national level, the BJP organisationally is becoming a party of the young, but it is important not to lose touch with the seniors who have made the party what it is today.”
Political analyst Badri Narayan said this was a good move by the BJP.
“Nagendra Tripathi is a very tall grassroots worker. He has brilliant command over north India and understands the region very well. He will now interact with senior party workers, many of whom are not active but have a lot of experience and have seen the party from the start. He will ensure that their feedback reaches the central BJP and that the advice of veteran party workers is taken in the organisation,” he told ThePrint.
Nagendra Nath Tripathi: Journey from RSS to BJP
Nagendra Nath Tripathi, who comes from an RSS background, is viewed as one of the few organisational leaders who have worked for years behind the scenes to strengthen the party. Before he was tasked with the responsibility of the Bihar-Jharkhand region, he served as the organisational secretary of the Uttar Pradesh BJP for nearly eight years.
In 2002, he was deputed from RSS to BJP and appointed general secretary (organisation) of the UP unit.
Tripathi was born into a farming family in Belauli village in Uttar Pradesh’s Sant Kabir Nagar district, which was carved out of Basti district. During his school years in Basti, he came in contact with the RSS. Active in the Sangh for a long time, he worked as a pracharak and strengthened ideological and organizational activities among the youth. In 2011, he became the organisational secretary of the Bihar BJP.
In Uttar Pradesh, he focused especially on expanding the organisation down to the booth level, training workers, as well as election management. Tripathi has also handled key responsibilities in the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), the student wing of the RSS where he became known as a skilled organiser.
Explaining Tripathi’s role, a senior party leader said that at the national level, he will be responsible for establishing direct contact with senior party leaders and workers in various states.
“He will act as a strong bridge, carrying the experiences, suggestions, and concerns of senior workers within the organisation to the central leadership. Although this is not a constitutionally mandated post, earlier in 2020, V Satish ji was appointed for the first time to a newly created post of ‘Organiser’. He was at that time joint general secretary (organisation). Satish ji was tasked with coordination with the party’s parliamentary office, the SC and ST morcha and its special contact programme,” the leader explained.
Another party leader pointed out that as the BJP is making organisational changes, the idea is to make the overall structure more effective. “Considering our ongoing expansion across the country and the upcoming electoral challenges, such decisions are being taken strategically to keep the role of senior workers active. The party has been trying to rope them into several of its programmes and the latest appointment is a step in that direction.”
(Edited by Gitanjali Das)
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