Key BJP meet today ahead of party polls

NEW DELHI: More than 200 delegates will be in attendance during the day-long BJP national office-bearers' meet at party's headquarters extension building here on Saturday to finalise the launch of the party's membership drive - "Sangathan Parv" - which will culminate with the election of a new party president.

Besides BJP's organisational team at national level, the meeting will also be attended by state party presidents, general secretaries in charge of the party's organisation and those involved in organisational polls in different states.

However, office-bearers from the three poll-bound states including Maharashtra, Haryana, Jharkhand and UT of J&K have been exempted from participation as organisational polls will not take place in these regions due to assembly polls to be held this year. The Election Commission on Friday announced dates for Haryana and J&K. There has long been a buzz that the ruling party may appoint a "working president" before a full-fledged president is formally elected.

With incumbent president J P Nadda joining the Modi-led government as a Cabinet minister, he is expected to be replaced as per the party's convention of "one person one post" although there have been exceptions like G Kisahan Reddy, who continues to be party's Telangana state chief even as he continues to be a cabinet minister in Modi govt.

Although the "technical process" to elect the new national president is said to be kickstarted, there is no clarity about the likely options unlike 2019 when Nadda had emerged as frontrunner as successor to the then party president Amit Shah at the helm of the party after he did not join the Modi 2.0 govt.

Nadda was first appointed as working president in June 2019 before he was formally elected as president in Jan 2020. BJP's presidents have traditionally been elected with consensus.

As the BJP prepares for organisational polls, which cover the formation of new committees at booths, mandals, districts and states before the chosen delegates meet to elect its national president, the party has engaged in wide consultation. Senior BJP leaders, including Shah and Nadda, besides defence minister Rajnath Singh, had met RSS functionaries, including its second-in-command and general secretary Dattatreya Hosabale last Sunday.


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