Vibha Sharma
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, September 29
While the main opposition Congress tackles the ticklish issue of appointment of its new chief, it now appears that the ruling BJP may contest the 2024 Lok Sabha under existing party president JP Nadda.
Nadda, sources say, is all set to get an extension, in fact one complete term as the party chief
His present term expires in January 2023.
Nadda enjoys good support, including from Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah, within the party.
Besides, with crucial Assembly and Lok Sabha elections slated in the next two years, the BJP also does not want any disturbance due to organisational elections process and the changes.
If there was any plan, the process would have already started as organisational polls are mandatory in half of the states before the presidential elections.
Besides, recent changes in the organisational set-up also indicate that the leadership is not going in for any major change in the near future.
The sources say in one of the party meetings PM Modi also pointed out that Nadda could not make the most of his three-year term due to Covid pandemic.
Notably, Shah was also given an extension ahead of 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
In 2012 the BJP amended its constitution, paving the path for the party president, state and district unit chiefs to get a second term. The amendment, allowing a member to hold the post for two consecutive terms of three years each, was intended to pave the way for a second term for senior leader Nitin Gadkari, then the party chief.
The sources add that there is also a provision in the party constitution that the president can continue for a second term without the process of election.
Assembly polls are due in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh this year, followed by Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Telangana, Tripura, Meghalaya, Nagaland and Mizoram, next year. Year 2024 is when the country will hold the general elections along with Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim, Haryana, Maharashtra and Jharkhand.
Nadda was made the party’s working president in July 2019.
He took over as the full-time president on January 20, 2020.
