National
Shah set to reconstitute BJP’s top bodies (Lead, Correcting para four)
By Brajendra Nath Singh
New Delhi, Sep 15 (IANS) An overhaul of the BJP Parliamentary Board, the highest-decision making body in the party, and the Central Election Committee (CEC) is on the cards with the exit of M. Venkaiah Naidu after his election as the country’s Vice President.
Speculation is rife over the possible induction of Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and General Secretary Ram Madhav into the Parliamentary Board.
After becoming Vice President, Naidu is no longer a Bharatiya Janata Party member and hence his elevation to the second top constitutional post has caused vacancies in both the bodies.
Sources in the BJP said party President Amit Shah wants to replace Naidu with a south Indian face and is believed to have mooted the name of Sitharaman. But this has not gone well with a section of top leaders, who feel they have not been taken into confidence on the issue.
This section is also miffed that it was not consulted when former Minister of State for HRD Mahendra Nath Pandey was appointed the Uttar Pradesh BJP chief.
The issue also figured in a meeting on Wednesday evening of senior leaders including Home Minister Rajnath Singh, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari and External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj.
The 11-member Parliamentary Board chaired by Shah has Prime Minister Narendra Modi, union ministers Rajnath Singh, Jaitley, Sushma Swaraj, Gadkari, Ananth Kumar, Thawarchand Gehlot, Jagat Prakash Nadda, Shivraj Singh Chouhan (Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister) and General secretary (organisation) Ram Lal as its members.
According to the BJP constitution, the National Executive of the party constitutes the Parliamentary Board consisting of the party president and 10 others, including the leader of the party in Parliament, as members.
The Chairman of the Board would be the President and one of the General Secretaries would be nominated by the BJP President to act as the board Secretary.
Shah had earlier reconstituted the Board when he became the BJP President. He had dropped party veterans — former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, former Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani and former President and union minister Murli Manohar Joshi — from the body.
Shah had inducted Shivraj Singh Chouhan and J.P. Nadda to the Board. Nadda was then BJP’s General Secretary and nominated by Shah. Nadda is Secretary of the Parliamentary Board. Nadda later joined the Modi cabinet.
Under the BJP constitution, Shah would have to nominate one among the present general secretaries as Secretary of the Board. Among the eight general secretaries, Ram Madhav, also from the south, looks like being selected for the job, the sources said.
Shah also needs to reconstitute the CEC, which finalises the names of candidates for elections to state assemblies, Parliament and other bodies. Naidu was also a member of the CEC.
Reconstitution of these top bodies looks imminent as seven states — Gujarat, Karnataka, Himachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram — are due to go to the polls.
The BJP Parliamentary Board also decides on questions like whether the party goes to polls with a Chief Ministerial face or without it.
Shah was elected unopposed as the BJP President in January 2016 for a second term, this time for a full tenure of three years.
Since then, Shah has been working with his old team. Shah had earlier completed Home Minister Rajnath Singh’s interrupted tenure as BJP President from July 2014.
Another area where Shah is likely to focus attention is on the reconstitution of office bearers in the BJP headquarters here.
–IANS
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National
Foodman Vishal Singh Honored for Hunger Free World Mission in Bangkok
Lucknow: Vishal Singh, a renowned social worker from Lucknow, also known as Foodman, has once again made India proud. He was honored by the Happy Hands Gloves Cooperative Limited Company in Korathai, Thailand, for his work with the Hunger Free World Mission.
The Hunger Free World Mission’s meeting was held in Korathai, Thailand, under Vishal Singh’s leadership. Representatives from several countries, including Mr. Raja Dwivedi (Managing Director of Happy Hands Gloves Limited), Thailand Coordinator Mr. Raja Mishra, and member Mr. Varun Singh, attended the event.
Under Vishal Singh’s leadership, the attendees took a pledge to work together toward creating a hunger-free world.
Speaking on the occasion, Vishal Singh explained that the main goal of the Hunger Free World Mission is social participation. He said the mission is not just about feeding people but also about meeting other basic needs of those who are struggling. The mission focuses on helping families of terminally ill patients in hospitals by providing food and shelter. It also works to fulfill essential needs like education, jobs, and care for the elderly.
For the last 16 years, the Vijay Sri Foundation has been providing free services, benefiting thousands of people. Vishal Singh highlighted that the mission aims to gain global recognition like other organizations such as WHO, WWF, and Red Cross, which work for social causes.
During this meeting, Vishal Singh was appointed as the Chairman of the Hunger Free World Mission by representatives from various countries. They also discussed holding regular meetings in different countries to push the mission forward.
Business tycoon Dr. Abhishek Verma has also supported this humanitarian mission, vowing to promote the idea of “Seva Parmo Dharma” (Service is the highest duty) worldwide. Vishal Singh praised him, stating that people like Dr .Abhishek Verma inspire others to work for the betterment of society.
Recently, Romania’s Ambassador, Mr . Daniela Sezonov Ţane, invited Vishal Singh to the Romanian Embassy in Delhi, where they discussed the mission in detail. Impressed by his humanitarian work, she honored Vishal Singh and invited him to Romania to take the mission forward .
Food man Vishal Singh has been serving the people of India for the past 16 years. Through the Vijay Sri Foundation, he provides free meals to cancer patients & their families ,shelter, and education for women & children along with running free old-age homes in Lucknow.
In addition to his humanitarian work, Vishal Singh also addresses issues like crime and corruption through his role as Chairman of Seva Path Media and Managing Director of Vijay Sri Foundation.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Vishal Singh and his team worked tirelessly to provide food and help to the needy, including starving children, elderly citizens, and pregnant women. Despite contracting the virus himself, he continued to assist others after his recovery. He even created a life-saving oxygen regulator using household items, which was praised by doctors both in India and abroad.
In his address at the meeting, Vishal Singh spoke about his mission to create a hunger-free world. He pointed out that India’s large population, along with issues like unemployment and poverty, has caused the country to fall on the Hunger Index. He urged people to contribute just one handful of grains daily to help create a hunger-free world.
He concluded by saying that through social participation, we can empower the people around us, meet their basic needs, and work together to build a stronger, more prosperous, and developed society.