New Delhi, Aug 17 (IANS): In a surprise move Union Minister Nitin Gadkari and Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan were dropped from the reconstituted BJP Parliamentary Board. BJP chief J P Nadda on Wednesday reconstituted the Parliamentary Board and the Central Election Committee (CEC). Senior leaders Shahnawaz Hussain and Jual Oram were dropped from the CEC.

Nitin Gadkari, who is a former party president, is said to be close to the top brass of the RSS. He is also the sitting MP from Nagpur.

Eleven members of the reconstituted Parliamentary Board are party president Nadda, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Ministers Rajnath Singh, Amit Shah and Sarbananda Sonowal, former Karnataka chief minister BS Yediyurappa, OBC Morcha national president K Laxman, Iqbal Singh Lalpura, Sudha Yadav, Satyanarayan Jatia and national general secretary (organisation) B L Santhosh.

The 15-member Central Election Committee includes the 11 members of the Parliamentary Board and Union Minister Bhupender Yadav, deputy chief minister of Maharashtra Devendra Fadnavis, Om Mathur and Vanathi Srinivasan.