The next BJP chief could be announced as soon as within a fortnight, sources have indicated, citing that the organisational elections of the party have been completed in 12 states. Sources said the party’s national president likely to be announced before March 15, after which an inauspicious period starts in the Hindu calendar.
For the election of the BJP president, organisational elections in 50 per cent of the states is a must. Before that, elections are held for booth, mandal, and district levels.
Currently, elections in only 12 of 36 states are complete. So elections for unit chiefs in at least six more states are needed. The BJP is fast-tracking the process in states that are due for assembly election next year — Tamil Nadu, Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Assam and Gujarat. There will be no change in Bihar, where elections are due by the end of this year.
State in-charges have already been asked to submit prospective names for the top post.
While speculation on the matter is rampant, given the BJP’s track record of springing surprises, zeroing in on a name at this stage is unwise, sources indicated.
But what is unanimously accepted is the candidate will have to be acceptable across the board including the BJP’s ideological mentor Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh or RSS, be steeped in organizational values.
The other things the party is likely to focus on include caste combination, the north-south divide over the language row and delimitation, and most importantly, the need to shore up its support base in Uttar Pradesh where the party’s setback in the Lok Sabha polls had deprived it of a single-handed majority in the house.
Mr Nadda had taken on the responsibility of the party in 2019 as its working president. In January 2020, he was unanimously elected the BJP national president, and took over from current Union Home Minister Amit Shah.
His tenure was extended until June 2024 in view of the Lok Sabha election, and with his induction into the government, the party has been looking at prospective candidates to succeed him.
But the process has been slow, with the leaders hoping to create consensus on the issue.
That is applicable at state level too, and it has been a difficult path in some states, where there is dissent over the choice.