PM Meet Stirs Buzz Over BJP President Poll
B.L. Santhosh held a separate discussion with Modi, followed by a joint meeting with Shah and Nadda
New Delhi: A series of meetings in Parliament on Wednesday, involving BJP president and Union minister J.P. Nadda, Union home minister Amit Shah, and BJP national general secretary (organisation) B.L. Santhosh with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has triggered speculation that the election of the next BJP president may take place soon. There is also a buzz within the ruling party that, with Kharmas (the inauspicious month) beginning on December 15, Nadda’s successor could be elected before that date.
With elections scheduled early next year in key states including West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Puducherry and Assam, many within the party feel that the new BJP president should be in place well before these polls. Several names are doing the rounds for the post, including that of a Cabinet minister credited with playing a key role in the BJP-led alliance’s recent victory in Bihar.
Before his meeting with the Prime Minister, B.L. Santhosh held a separate discussion with Modi, followed by a joint meeting with Shah and Nadda. After meeting the Prime Minister, the trio held another round of deliberations at Shah’s office in Parliament.
Interestingly, Santhosh was in Uttar Pradesh earlier this week, where he met several BJP leaders, including Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. RSS pointsperson in the BJP, Arun Kumar, was also in Uttar Pradesh at the same time, meeting several Sangh pracharaks. Kumar reportedly met the Chief Minister as well.
The buzz in the state is that these meetings were linked to finalising the new Uttar Pradesh BJP state president, whose name has reportedly been decided and may be announced soon. Once the new state unit chief is named, the organisational election process in Uttar Pradesh will conclude. The state has the largest number of representatives in the BJP national council, and the election schedule for the national president will be issued once the UP chief’s name is finalised. The national council ratifies the name of the new national BJP president.