BJP to kickstart nationwide organisational rejig soon

New Delhi: The BJP is set to kickstart soon the process of wide organisational changes with the launch of a fresh membership drive, followed by an internal poll across states leading up to the election of a new party president.

Though the extended tenure of incumbent president J P Nadda ends on June 30, a recent amendment in the BJP’s Constitution has empowered its apex body, the Parliamentary Board, to take a call related to a president, including his term, in “emergency” situations. Sources said the party’s Parliamentary Board may extend Nadda’s tenure till the election process for his replacement is complete. They, however, added that it is for the party’s top brass to take the final call and they may appoint a “working president” till his replacement is elected.

Nadda’s induction into the Union Cabinet as the minister for health and chemicals and fertilisers has necessitated the search for his replacement. Nadda was appointed BJP’s working president before being elected the party’s full-fledged president in January 2020. The precedent opens up the possibility of appointing a working president, more so as a full-time leader may be needed to shepherd the upcoming membership drive and elections in its organisational units, be it districts or states. With Assembly elections due in Haryana, Maharashtra, Jharkhand and Delhi in the coming months, a working president will help galvanise the organisation, the sources said. The likes of Dharmendra Pradhan or Bhupender Yadav, who are solid organisation hands and were often spoken about as potential party presidents, have continued in the Modi government in its third term.