The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is likely to announce its new national president by mid-July, with the organizational election process gaining momentum and state unit appointments nearing completion. The selection process involves multiple stages, starting with the appointment of state unit presidents. Once presidents are elected in at least half of the states, the process to select the national president can commence.
Currently, the BJP has appointed new state presidents in 14 states, while organizational elections are required in a total of 37 states and Union Territories. This means that state presidents still need to be appointed in at least 19 more regions before the national president can be elected. The party is expected to announce state unit presidents in several more states soon. Names of the new state presidents for Uttarakhand and Maharashtra were announced on July 1st. The BJP central leadership is also close to formally announcing the new party chiefs for Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. For Telangana, N Ramachander Rao emerged as the sole nominee, while PVN Madhav filed the only nomination for Andhra Pradesh.
The BJP's constitution stipulates that district presidents are elected after elections are held in half of the party's mandals (blocks). State presidents are chosen after elections in half of the districts, and the national president is elected only after state presidents have been appointed in at least half of the states. According to sources, the party leadership has directed the state units where organizational polls have been pending to complete them swiftly.
The term of the current BJP national president, JP Nadda, officially ended in January 2023. However, in light of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, his tenure was extended until June 2024. With the general elections now concluded, the appointment of a new national president is expected to take place soon.
The selection of the new national president is a crucial step for the BJP as it prepares for upcoming state elections and continues to shape its national agenda. Sources indicate that the BJP leadership may hold discussions with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) to potentially finalize the next party chief. The new president is likely to carry out a significant reshuffle within the party, potentially replacing nearly half of the current national general secretaries to make room for younger faces in key organizational roles. The BJP's parliamentary board, the party's apex decision-making body, may also see the inclusion of heavyweight leaders to boost the organization's strength ahead of key state elections.
