Vishnu Dutt Sharma (49), general secretary of Madhya Pradesh BJP and MP of Khajuraho Lok Sabha seat, has been made the new president of Madhya Pradesh BJP. Apart from this, K Surendran has been appointed as Kerala BJP, Dal Bahadur Chauhan as Sikkim BJP President. BJP National General Secretary Arun Singh issued a communique on Saturday and announced it officially.

Vishnu Dutt Sharma will replace State BJP President Rakesh Singh. Singh is an MP from Jabalpur in Madhya Pradesh. He is considered the right hand man of Union Home Minister and former BJP President Amit Shah. It was being speculated in the political corridors of the state that Rakesh Singh could be given the command of Madhya Pradesh BJP again. He organized a huge rally in his Lok Sabha constituency Jabalpur last month in support of the amended Citizenship Act (CAA).

However, the BJP leadership chose Sharma for the post of state BJP president. This move of the party has surprised many BJP leaders. Vishnu Dutt Sharma is known as VD Sharma among party leaders and activists. He is considered close to the Sangh. He started his political career with the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP). He is credited with strengthening ABVP in Madhya Pradesh in the 1990s.

Sharma has been the National General Secretary of ABVP. After his appointment to the post he joined the BJP in 2013, the BJP leadership has assigned a second important post to the Brahmin leader in Madhya Pradesh. Earlier, the party made Gopal Bhargava the Leader of Opposition in the Madhya Pradesh Assembly.