NEW DELHI, SEPT 10: Intense lobbying among BJP leaders for a place in the list of 20 central office bearers, delayed its announcement at least till Monday.Bangaru Laxman, who was formally elected as BJP president on August 8, had an hour-long meeting with his predecessor Kushabhau Thakre on Saturday evening, but could not finalise the list.Initially, it was the indecision over M Venkaiah Naidu's inclusion in the office bearers' list - he was also being considered to be inducted in the Union Cabinet - that held up the list. Then a debate over another general secretary, K N Govindacharya, whom Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee wanted to be dropped from the list, caused the delay.Now it is a dispute over the fate of former Union minister and ex-vice president Madan Lal Khurana and Thakre, which is said to be further delaying finalisation of the list. While Bangaru wants to include Khurana in his team, Thakre is reportedly opposed to it due to his ``indisciplined'' behaviour during his (Thakre's) tenure as president.Thakre, himself, is learnt to be looking forward to being a permanent invitee to all the meetings of office bearers, besides looking after the work of organising secretary. It was his plan to position himself post-retirement for these jobs that Thakre did not appoint anyone as organising secretary during his two-year term that ended on August 27 this year, BJP sources claim.Though Thakre's team of office bearers included 11 members from his home state, Madhya Pradesh, he is learnt to be pressurising Bangaru on including some of his favourites and dropping those he doesn't like, BJP sources said.Though Govindacharya claimed to have written to Thakre in March requesting for two-year's ``study leave'' and that he be relieved from being in charge of BJP's UP unit, Thakre on Saturday refused to acknowledge receiving any such letter. ``I won't comment. I am under no compulsion to either confirm or deny it,'' he said.The list, now expected to be released on Monday, is likely to include Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, Narendra Modi, Venkaiah Naidu and Maya Singh as general secretaries. The fifth general secretary is yet to be finalised and it could be PyareLal Khandelwal - despite Thakre's reservations - or Sanghpriya Gautam.Madan Lal Khurana, Gautam, Jana Krishnamurthy, Sahib Singh Varma, Ram Das Agarwal, J P Mathur and Karia Munda are among those tipped for the posts of vice president.
