BJP Likely To Elect New Party President Early Next Year As Organisational Polls Progress

With the BJP expected to complete organisational elections in half of the states by 15 January, the party is likely to announce its next president early next year.

Union Health Minister JP Nadda has been serving as the BJP president since January 2020 and has remained in the role on an extension since his term ended in 2023.

Photo Credit: PTI

"Except for the few states that went to polls, the membership drive is now being followed by organisational elections. We should be in a position to wind up elections in half of the states by mid-January. The next step after that will be the election of the BJP national president," stated a senior BJP leader involved in the process.

Currently, booth-level elections have been concluded in several states, reported the Indian Express.

Mandal-level elections are anticipated to finish within the next five to ten days. These will be followed by Zilla-level elections by the end of the year or by January 5, according to a party leader.

While there is no definitive clarity on who the next party president could be, insiders suggest that an announcement is expected early next year.

The decision will depend on the consensus between BJP leadership and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). Although there had been talk of a somewhat weakened central leadership following the Lok Sabha elections, the BJP has regained momentum with the results of the Haryana and Maharashtra Assembly polls, as well as bypolls in Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan, despite falling short of a majority on its own in the Lok Sabha.

According to the BJP's constitution, presidents elected at each level-from mandal to Zilla to state-nominate their teams of office-bearers.

Once elections in half the states are completed, the process for selecting a full-time national president begins. The newly elected president then nominates a team of office-bearers.

While the BJP constitution outlines an electoral college process for choosing the national president, the party traditionally selects a consensus candidate. The nominee typically files their papers and is "elected" unopposed, rather than through a contested election.

The Process
The BJP constitution allows for a contest if necessary. Should there be more than one candidate after the withdrawal deadline, polling is conducted in all state capitals on a designated date under the supervision of polling officers appointed by the all-India returning officer. Sealed ballot boxes are then transported to Delhi, where the votes are counted.

A BJP national president may serve a maximum of two consecutive terms of three years each. This rule was introduced in 2012 when the RSS sought to have Nitin Gadkari lead the party for a second consecutive term.

However, at the last moment, Rajnath Singh replaced Gadkari and held the post until the BJP's victory in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. Amit Shah subsequently succeeded Singh, with Nadda taking over from Shah four years ago.