Nitin Gadkari made Goa poll in-charge, new Jharkhand BJP chief named

New Delhi: Union minister Nitin Gadkari was on Wednesday made BJP in-charge of Goa assembly election which is due next year. BJP is in power in the state where Congress is being considered its main rival with Aam Aadmi Party also trying hard to make a base. In another appointment, BJP President Amit Shah made Laxman Giluwa the chief of the party's Jharkhand unit after accepting the resignation of Tala Marandi. Giluwa, a Lok Sabha member, is also a tribal like Marandi whose short tenure at the helm was mired in controversies and caused disaffection in a strong section of the BJP following his criticism of some decisions of the party-run state government. His alleged unilateral announcement of the team of state party office bearers proved to be the last straw. After making Raghubar Das, who is not from the Scheduled Tribes who constitutes the largest block of votes in the state, the state's chief minister, the party had appointed Marandi its state chief in an apparent balancing act. Marandi's appointment was considered a surprise by many due to his relatively low profile while Giluwa is seen as a more seasoned politician, having been first elected to the assembly of Bihar, with Jharkhand still being a part of it, in 1995 and then to the Lok Sabha in 1999.