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BJP issues notification for party president election; Nabin set to succeed Nadda
Nominations for Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) new party president post will be filed on Monday, and the announcement will be made on Tuesday
New Delhi: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Friday issued a notification for the election of its new party president, with nominations to be filed on Monday and the announcement to be made on Tuesday.
As per the notification, nominations will be filed between 2 pm and 4 pm, scrutiny will be conducted between 4 pm and 5 pm, and withdrawals will be allowed from 5 pm to 6 pm.
“The election will be conducted on Tuesday if the need arises; otherwise, the announcement will be made the same day,” the notification said.
Since it is expected to be an unopposed election, BJP’s working president Nitin Nabin is likely to be announced as the new party president, replacing JP Nadda, who was appointed as working president in 2019 and national president in January 2020.
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On December 14, the party had announced the appointment of five-term legislator and Bihar minister Nabin as the working national president.
As per the BJP’s Constitution, the national president is elected by an electoral college consisting of members of the national council and members of the state councils.
Any 20 members of the electoral college of a state can jointly propose the name of an individual who has been an active member for four terms and 15 years. The joint proposal should come from not less than five states where elections have been completed for the national council.
The Constitution also lays down that any eligible member can hold the post of party president for two consecutive terms of three years each.
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In 2021, Nadda’s name was proposed by senior leaders Amit Shah, Rajnath Singh and Nitin Gadkari, all former party presidents. It was seconded by members of the BJP national council.
Nadda was appointed as the working president of the party after Shah joined the Cabinet as Union home minister. It was the first time the party had appointed a working president.
The new President and team will have their hands full –– the party will head into elections in four states and a Union Territory soon after, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Assam and Puducherry (The BJP is in power in only one, Assam). Next year, elections will be held in Uttar Pradesh, Manipur, Punjab, Goa, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Gujarat. The BJP is in power in four of these states; Manipur is under President’s Rule; and Himachal and Punjab are ruled by the Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), respectively.
