BJP appoints 3 senior Central Ministers as poll managers

The BJP on Wednesday appointed three senior Central Ministers as poll managers for Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Telangana.

BJP President Amit Shah appointed Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan as party's election in-charge for Madhya Pradesh, Prakash Javadekar for Rajasthan and Health Minister J.P. Nadda for Telangana, a party statement said.

In Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, where elections are due by the end of this year, the BJP and the Congress will be in the direct contest. Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao dissolved the Assembly nearly nine months before its term was to end to clear the way for early elections. Elections in Telangana are likely in January or February.

New appointments in BJP's West Bengal unit, where ruling TMC and the BJP are at loggerheads, were also announced. Former Trinamool Congress leader and Union Minister Mukul Roy, who joined the BJP last year, was appointed a coordinator of election management committee of the party.

The BJP has appointed RSS pracharak Arvind Menon as a co-in charge of West Bengal. Menon served as BJP's General Secretary (Organisation) in Madhya Pradesh and will now work under party General Secretary Kailash Vijaywargiya.

The BJP has been ruling Madhya Pradesh since 2003 after ousting the Digvijay Singh government of the Congress from power.

The BJP is ruling Rajasthan since 2013 when it swept the polls by bagging 163 of the 200 assembly seats under the leadership of present Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje.