Rajasthan BJP chief Ashok Parnami resigns

Rajasthan BJP chief Ashok Parnami has resigned from his post, but BJP national general secretary Arun Singh on Wednesday appointed him a member of the national working committee. He had sent his resignation to party president Amit Shah on April 16. Parnami confirmed his resignation to media saying, "I have resigned due to personal engagements. I feel honoured that the party has made me a member of the national working committee. I will continue to work for the party as a disciplined worker."

Speculations about Parnami's resignation had been doing the rounds for the last several weeks after BJP's defeat in the bypolls. However, Parnami countered these saying, "Winning or losing elections are collective responsibility of the party. Responsibility cannot be fixed on individuals." Parnami has been on various posts of BJP for last 25 years. He was made state BJP president in 2014 and is an MLA from the Adarsh Nagar seat in Jaipur.

The BJP is yet to announce the new president for Rajasthan. However it is believed that the new BJP president will be a younger face. "The party will make a tectonic shift towards a new generation of leadership," said a source in the BJP.