Bengaluru, 17 August 2026: Karnataka has secured two prominent positions in the Bharatiya Janata Party’s new national organisational team announced by BJP president Nitin Nabin on Monday. Prof. M. Nagaraja has been appointed National Vice-President, while B.L. Santhosh will continue as the BJP’s National General Secretary (Organisation). The appointments are part of a 65-member national team announced by the party.
Prof. M. Nagaraja gets National Vice-President post
Prof. M. Nagaraja is among the 13 national vice-presidents named in Nitin Nabin’s new team. The list includes senior leaders such as former Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje Scindia, former Uttarakhand Chief Minister Tirath Singh Rawat, Ram Madhav and Baijayant Jay Panda. Nagaraja is the member identified with Karnataka in the vice-presidential list.
Reacting to his appointment, Nagaraja said the new team represents different regions and communities and expressed confidence about the BJP’s prospects in Karnataka ahead of the 2028 Assembly election. His elevation gives Karnataka a direct voice at the BJP’s highest organisational level at a time when the State unit is preparing for the next Assembly election.
B.L. Santhosh continues in key organisational role
B.L. Santhosh, a senior BJP organisational leader from Karnataka, has been retained as National General Secretary (Organisation). The position is particularly significant because the organisational general secretary plays a central role in coordinating the party organisation and its cadre structure.
Santhosh is among the few senior leaders retained in Nitin Nabin’s reshaped team, while a large number of new faces have been inducted. Of the 65 office-bearers announced, 51 are new, according to reports.
What about Tejasvi Surya?
The other major Karnataka-related development is the change involving Bengaluru South MP Tejasvi Surya. Surya has been replaced as president of the BJP's Yuva Morcha in the new organisational structure. The change is notable because the Yuva Morcha post had given him a national organisational role. The new Yuva Morcha president is Dr. Hemang Joshi.
Why this matters for Karnataka
The new appointments indicate that Karnataka continues to have an important place in the BJP’s national organisational structure. With M. Nagaraja entering the national vice-presidential team and B.L. Santhosh retaining his key organisational position, Karnataka has representation at two important levels of the BJP's national structure.
At the same time, the removal of Tejasvi Surya from the Yuva Morcha presidency signals a change in the party's approach to its youth organisation. For Karnataka BJP, the larger question now is how Nitin Nabin's new national team will work with the State leadership as the party prepares for the 2028 Karnataka Assembly election. Nagaraja himself has said the party is confident about returning to power in Karnataka.
Keywords
Karnataka BJP national team 2026, Karnataka BJP, Nitin Nabin, M Nagaraja, BL Santhosh, Tejasvi Surya, BJP national team 2026, Karnataka politics, BJP Karnataka, Citizen News Puttur