BJP President election likely by July-end

Election of the new BJP President may get delayed further till July-end or the first week of August as some of the big states have not yet completed their organizational polls and a consensus between the party and the RSS on any name for the top post has not been reached.

As per the BJP constitution, at least half of the states have to hold their election process for choosing the state unit president. At present, big states like Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Telangana and others have not completed this process. Once this is done, the party will choose its national president in consultation with RSS.

The whole exercise is likely to consume more time and hence incumbent JP Nadda appears set to continue as president till end of July or the first week of August, highly placed BJP sources said. “BJP will contest the Bihar elections, due in October-November, under the new president,” a party office bearer said.

However, the delay is not merely due to the procedure involved and a lack of consensus between BJP and the RSS on a name is the more plausible reason. In the past, BJP presidents have been chosen in a much shorter time span, including the exercise in 2014-15 when Amit Shah was elected and in 2019-20 when Nadda occupied the top post. In fact, Shah and Nadda were first appointed president and the choice was ratified by the state units in the following months.

The election of BJP state unit presidents is also not a smooth affair this time as the party is weighing all equations within the organization as well as region and caste factors. In UP, the next state unit chief may come from the OBC community. In Madhya Pradesh, where the chief minister hails from the backward caste, the state unit chief is likely to be from the upper caste.

RSS, the Sangh fountainhead, is of the firm view after the Lok Sabha 2024 elections in which BJP was reduced to 240 seats from 303 that the next party national president should be assertive and can take tough decisions to strengthen the organization.

Nadda completed his term in 2023 but was given an extension till the Lok Sabha elections. He has continued in the post since then. The delay in choosing his successor has led to speculations on several names. Among the union ministers Manohar Lal Khattar’s name was doing the rounds earlier but now appears unlikely. Another former chief minister and now union minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan was also seen as a contender. While the RSS may favour him, the top leadership in BJP is not too keen on his candidature. Dharmendra Pradhan and Bhupendra Yadav have also figured in the list.

Like Modi, Chouhan, Pradhan and Yadav also hail from the backward caste and hence may lose out as the head of government and of the party would be from the same segment.

Union minister G Kishan Reddy had figured among the probable names in the corridors of power. BJP General Secretary Sunil Bansal is also seen as a likely candidate.