An almost imperceptible transformation has taken place in the BJP’s pecking order, with a group of four leaders emerging as Narendra Modi’s core strategic team. Arun Jaitley, Amit Shah, Rajnath Singh and Nitin Gadkari form the new core group that seems to have replaced the earlier lot that included LK Advani, Sushma Swaraj and Murli Manohar Joshi along with Rajnath and Jaitley.

In the new order, Advani, Swaraj and Joshi are being consulted through Gadkari, who seems to be performing the role of mediator and negotiator. But Advani, Swaraj and Joshi are not actually sitting through the interminable strategic meetings that have taken place over the past 48 hours, ahead of the results on Friday.

On Thursday, for instance, BJP President Rajnath met senior RSS leader and Sangh point man for the BJP Suresh Soni and another Sangh veteran Saudan Singh at his residence on Ashoka Road here. The meeting lasted three hours and Shah, Modi’s chief lieutenant, joined them in the course of the meeting. Shah was also seen at the RSS headquarters in Jhandewalan, where the Sangh brass is camping till the final count of votes.

Subsequently, another meeting took place at the BJP headquarters further down Ashoka Road, where Jaitley, Rajnath, Shah and Gadkari huddled together for a long time. Jaitley then briefed BJP spokespersons including Ravi Shankar Prasad, Nirmala Sitharaman, Meenakshi Lekhi and Prakash Javdekar.

Rajnath, meanwhile, announced that the BJP’s top decision-making body, the central parliamentary board, will meet not on the result day but a day afterwards, i.e. on Saturday, to decide on the future course.

With the emergence of the new power structure, those lobbying for different posts also have to knock on different doors. Accordingly, aspirants for future jobs are not thronging Swaraj’s residence in Safdarjung Lane or Advani’s Prithviraj Road. They line up at either Rajnath’s residence or wait to meet Shah.

Hence, Uma Bharati took her case to her former mentor Advani but also felt it necessary to meet Gadkari. A crucial meeting to decide on the line of succession in Gujarat after Modi moves to Delhi took place in Gandhinagar yesterday. In that meeting, only the chosen four were present along with Modi. Rajnath paid a visit to Swaraj’s home before this meeting but she did not actually travel to Gandhinagar to attend the strategy session.

Clearly, a new pecking order has replaced the old in the BJP.

This is seen as a precursor to the future changes in the organisation when some, including the party president, may shift to the government.

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