B. L. Santhosh

Bommarabettu Laxmijanardhana Santhosh is an Indian politician and since July 2019 the National General Secretary (Organisation) of the Bharatiya Janata Party.[1][2][3][4]

B. L. Santhosh
National General Secretary (Organisation),
Bharatiya Janata Party
Assumed office
15 July 2019
Preceded byRam Lal
National Joint General Secretary (Org.), Bharatiya Janata Party
In office
2014–2019
General secretary (org) of Bharatiya Janata Party, Karnataka
In office
2006–2014
Personal details
BornHiriadka, Udupi district, Karanataka
NationalityIndian
Political partyBharatiya Janata Party
EducationBachelors of Engineering

Santhosh worked as BJP's General Secretary (Organisation) for eight years in the Karnataka state unit and was appointed national joint general secretary in-charge of southern states in 2014 by Amit Shah.[5][6][7][8][9] He is the second most powerful leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party.

Early life

Santhosh hails from Shivamogga in Karnataka. He studied engineering at Govt. BDT College of Engineering in Davanagere, Karnataka.[10]

Trained as a chemical engineer, Santhosh has been a full time worker of RSS since 1993. He can fluently speak five languages- English, Hindi, Kannada, Tamil and Tulu.

The ideology of RSS inspired him so much, that Santhosh decided against marriage, devoted his life to the Sangh Parivar and took various important roles in the organisation in Southern India.

Career

Santosh started as a RSS Pracharak (full time worker) in 1993. He had stints in Mysuru, Shivamogga and later in Bangalore. He returned to Shivamogga in the early 2000s.[11] In 2006 he moved to BJP as the General Secretary (Organization) for Karnataka. He remained in the post till 2014. This also saw the BJP in power between 2008 and 2013.

In 2014, Santosh was made the Joint General Secretary (Organization) of BJP. In 2019 he was elevated to the post General Secretary (Organization) of BJP. He is someone who is attributed to have spotted and groomed youth leaders such as Pratap Simha and Tejasvi Surya in Karnataka.[5]

Detractors say Santosh wields a lot of control in Karnataka BJP and within the BJP high command at the center. People quote the fact that 2 unknown faces, Ashok Gasti and Eranna Kadadi, were made members of Rajya Sabha by the BJP in June 2020 much against the wishes of the Chief Minister.[12]

Controversies

Santhosh made international headlines in February 2020, when he suggested that the party might be "compelled" to interfere in the United States presidential elections.

References
  1. Neelam Pandey (2 March 2020). "Conspiracies, threats and deleted posts – BJP leader BL Santhosh's angry Twitter world". The Print. Retrieved 1 May 2020. Meet B.L. Santhosh, the most high-profile BJP general secretary (organisation) ever, a party post virtually reserved for an RSS pracharak who commands enormous influence as he is the link between the party and its ideological patron (RSS).
  2. "K'taka's BL Santhosh elevated to BJP General Secretary, party's 2nd most powerful role". The News Minute. 15 July 2019. Retrieved 1 May 2020.
  3. Gyan Varma (15 July 2019). "Meet BL Santhosh, newly appointed general secretary of BJP". live mint. Retrieved 16 March 2020.
  4. Deepa Balakrishnan (16 July 2019). "Why BJP Promotion For RSS Loyalist BL Santhosh Should Have Yeddyurappa Looking Over His Shoulder". News 18. Retrieved 1 May 2020.
  5. BHAVNA VIJ-AURORA (15 July 2019). "With B L Santhosh As Party General Secretary, BJP Aims To Conquer Southern States". Outlook. Retrieved 1 May 2020.
  6. "Is BL Santhosh The new 'Modi' of Karnataka?". Deccan Chronicle. 1 September 2019. Retrieved 10 July 2020.
  7. "How BL Santhosh is redefining role of RSS pointsman in BJP under Amit Shah". Rohini Swamy. ThePrint. 9 January 2020. Retrieved 10 July 2020.
  8. ManuAiyappa Kanathanda (3 May 2017). "Why BL Santhosh can't be the Yogi Adityanath of Karnataka". The Times of India. Bangaluru. Retrieved 10 July 2020.
  9. Bhaskar Hegde (27 January 2017). "BL Santhosh behind the rebellion in Karnataka BJP?". Deccan Chronicle. Bangaluru. Retrieved 10 July 2020.
  10. "ALL ABOUT BL SANTOSH: NUMBER, EMAIL, BIODATA HINDI".
  11. Mallikarjunan, Prabhu (16 June 2020). "BL Santhosh: BJP's silent elephant in Karnataka's political war room". Archived from the original on 30 August 2020. Retrieved 7 September 2020.
  12. Dwarakanath, Nagarjun (9 June 2020). "Karnataka: BL Santosh picks grassroots BJP workers as Rajya Sabha candidates". Archived from the original on 9 June 2020. Retrieved 7 September 2020.


This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.