Vajpayee, Advani, Joshi out of BJP's top body

The generational shift in BJP was complete today with its founders Atal Behari Vajpayee, L K Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi being dropped from the Parliamentary Board, the highest decision-making body, which has the stamp of Prime Minister Narendra Modi all over now. In a token gesture, ailing Vajpayee and Advani and Joshi, for long the BJP's 'Trimurti', now figure in the new five-member 'Margdarshak Mandal' (guiding group) after being associated with the party for nearly four decades. Three-time Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and party general secretary J P Nadda are the new entrants to the BJP Parliamentary Board which was reconstituted by newly-appointed chief Amit Shah. The two have also been included in BJP's Central Election Committee, which decides on the party candidates to be fielded in elections. The 12-member Parliamentary Board chaired by Shah now has Modi, Rajnath Singh, Arun Jaitley, Sushma Swaraj, Venkaiah Naidu, Nitin Gadkari, Ananth Kumar, Thawarchand Gehlot, Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Jagat Prakash Nadda and Ramlal as its members. The new BJP President Amit Shah initiated the changes after consultations with top BJP leaders and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.