Fresh faces in Gadkari's dreamteam?

"A section of RSS leaders from UP is backing Varun either for the post of the party's UP state president or for the president of the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha. Varun, too, is interested in getting either of the two posts," said a senior BJP leader, requesting anonymity.

Similarly, several new young faces who have been working for front or sister organisations like Swadeshi Jagran Manch's former office bearer Muralidhar Rao and BJP Yuva Morcha president Amit Thakkar are likely to be accommodated.

A touch of glamour may find its way into the new team with the names of actresses Kiron Kher and Hema Malini, Amritsar MP Navjot Singh Sidhu and designer Shaina NC doing the rounds.

Among the two Muslim faces of the party -- Shahnawaz Hussain and Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi -- one is likely to be included. Young Hamirpur MP Anurag Thakur, son of Himachal Pradesh CM Prem Kumar Dhumal, is also a frontrunner for the BJP Yuva Morcha president's post.

According to party sources, Gadkari may also choose several state-level leaders facing rebellion from their state party units, including Vasundhara Raje, BC Khandhuri and Arjun Munda.

Office bearers from the present team such as Ravi Shankar Prasad, Prakash Javadekar and Rajiv Pratap Rudy besides incumbent general secretaries Ram Lal, Ananth Kumar and Thawar Chand Gehlot are certain to be retained.

Some of the other likely names include J P Nadda, forest minister, Himachal Pradesh, Narendra Tomar from Madhya Pradesh and Dr Harshvardhan from Delhi.

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