Nitin Nabin rose from panchayats to party helm, say BJP leaders from Bihar

Senior BJP figures from the state said Nitin Nabin’s rise reflected the party’s emphasis on cadre-based politics

Nitin Nabin is set to assume charge as the Bharatiya Janata Party’s national president on Tuesday. Party leaders in Bihar have projected this appointment as recognition of years of grassroots work, organisational discipline and a conscious generational shift within the party’s leadership.

Nitin Nabin is currently serving as the working president. (ANI photo)

Senior BJP figures from the state said Nabin’s rise, from student and youth politics to the party’s top organisational post, reflected the party’s emphasis on cadre-based politics and sustained engagement at the booth and panchayat levels.

BJP MP from Bettiah Sanjay Jaiswal, who is also the party’s chief whip in the Lok Sabha, said the appointment underlined Nabin’s reputation as a committed organiser with a strong on-ground connect. Recalling his role in successive elections, Jaiswal said Nabin was a visible presence across Bihar during the 2015 and 2020 assembly polls.

“We all remember that during the 2015 and 2020 Bihar assembly elections, and later as president of the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM), Nabin travelled extensively across the state. There was hardly any district in Bihar that he did not visit,” Jaiswal said, pointing to his sustained fieldwork over the years.

Jaiswal, a former Bihar BJP president, said Nabin’s tenure as Yuva Morcha chief marked a shift towards more structured grassroots outreach.

Citing a statewide programme under which meetings were convened with elected representatives of Panchayati Raj institutions across Bihar, he said that these representatives were brought together and formally acknowledged as part of a broader organisational exercise aimed at strengthening the BJP’s base at the village level.

“In rural Bihar, the panchayat is often the first point of political contact. The focus was on building a durable network there,” Jaiswal said.

BJP workers were encouraged to engage directly with members of self-help groups and community collectives, particularly during election periods.

“These were not centrally mandated programmes. These were initiatives taken by him during his travels across Bihar,” Jaiswal said, adding that such efforts helped create informal support networks alongside the party’s formal organisational structure.

Jaiswal described Nabin as the BJP’s first “millennial” national president, noting that he was born after the party’s formation.

“Every national president leaves behind a distinct imprint. His appointment marks a new phase and an opportunity to add a fresh chapter, particularly in terms of engaging younger voters,” he said.

Former BJP MLA Prem Ranjan Patel echoed similar sentiments, calling the appointment a morale booster for party workers across Bihar.

“For Bihar, this is a big development. Workers are happy because he is a leader who has emerged from among them,” Patel said, adding that the decision had also been positively received by the wider public in the state.

Patel highlighted what he described as Nabin’s calm and approachable personality.

“There is no anger at his core; he always carries a smile,” he said, suggesting that these traits had helped him gain acceptance among party cadres and colleagues.

Leaders who remain connected to the grassroots, Patel added, are better positioned to understand organisational challenges and aspirations.

Placing the development in historical context, BJP legislative council member Anil Sharma said Nabin’s elevation evoked memories of Bihar’s earlier contributions to national leadership.

Referring to Dr Rajendra Prasad, India’s first President, and Loknayak Jaiprakash Narayan, the socialist leader whose call for ‘Total Revolution’ shaped national politics in the 1970s, he said, “Nabinji’s rise carries symbolic value for Bihar.”