BJP announces Indore city executive dominated by Vijayvargiya camp:33 office bearers in new team, Swati Kashid’s appointment draws attention; Varun Pal becomes media in charge

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has announced its new Indore city executive committee, comprising 33 leaders in key organisational roles. The list, approved by Madhya Pradesh BJP president Hemant Khandelwal, was released by city president Sumit Mishra. In the revamped structure, Sudhir Kolhe, Kailash Pipale, and Mahesh Kukreja have been appointed as general secretaries, while Sachin Bansal takes charge as treasurer. Mishra expressed confidence in the old team with appointing Varun Pal as media in-charge and Nitin Sharma and Ritesh Sharma as co-media in-charges. Five women included in the new team Among the new entrants, five women, Kanchan Gidwani, Neha Sharma, Manju Thakur, Indu Shrivastava, and Swati Kashid, have been inducted into the team, reflecting a bid to strengthen women’s participation in local party leadership. Swati Kashid’s appointment draws attention Among the new names, Swati Kashid, wife of local gangster Yuvraj Ustad, has been appointed minister in the city executive. Her inclusion has raised eyebrows within political circles.During the 2022 Indore Municipal Corporation elections, Swati was initially given a BJP ticket from Ward 56, but the ticket was withdrawn within 16 hours and allotted instead to Gajanand Gawde. At that time, then state BJP president V.D. Sharma had stated publicly that the party does not field candidates with criminal backgrounds or their family members. Vijayvargiya camp gets major representation The new city executive appears to heavily favour supporters of Minister Kailash Vijayvargiya and MLA Ramesh Mendola. Prominent names such as Harpreet Singh Bakshi, Sudhir Kolhe, Bhupendra Kesari, Dipti Hada, Swati Kashid, and Raja Kothari, all known Vijayvargiya loyalists, have secured key posts in the new structure. Mayor Pushyamitra Bhargav’s close associate and former councillor Bharat Parakh has also been appointed vice-president. Silawat camp left behind In contrast, the Minister Tulsiram Silawat faction has seen limited representation this time. Despite earlier speculation, leaders such as Raju Chauhan, Pawan Jaiswal, and Mohan Sengar have not been included in the new committee. Only Pappu Sharma has retained his position from the Silawat quota, making him the sole representative from that group. Similarly, MP Shankar Lalwani and MLA Mahendra Hardia could not secure significant positions for their loyalists.