New Delhi: Firebrand former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Uma Bharti and Karnataka BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) chief Ananth Kumar have been appointed as the party's General Secretaries while Yashwant Sinha has been made Vice President in a revamp carried out by its new president L K Advani.

The new team, in which General Secretary Pramod Mahajan remains untouched, was finalised today (Oct 29, 2004) after a number of meetings by top leadership including Atal Bihari Vajpayee to unsuccessfully persuade former party chief M Venkaiah Naidu to accept various responsible positions, party sources told sources in New Delhi.

Madan Lal Khurana, who resigned as Rajasthan Governor on Monday (Oct 25, 2004) is likely to find a place in the party as vice president, the sources said. Former Union Minister O Rajagopal is also a strong contender for the post.

Inclusion of Bharti is seen as her rehabilitation after she had to quit the post of Chief Minister following issuance of an arrest warrant against her by a Karnataka court in a 10-year-old rioting case in Hubli.