The long-delayed appointment of JP Nadda's successor to take the reins of BJP could happen soon after Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP national general secretary (organisation) BL Santosh met with the party national president on Wednesday.
The hour-long meeting discussed the candidates who would assume the role of BJP national chief as well as the president of its Uttar Pradesh unit.
Though Nadda's term had ended before the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, it was extended multiples times. BJP bylaws stipulated that before appointing the national president, the party has to hold elections in at least 50 per cent of the state units.
Who will be the next BJP president?
Among the names doing rounds include Union Ministers Dharmendra Pradhan, Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Bhupendra Yadav, Devendra Fadnavis and Vinod Tawde.
Nirmala Sitharaman, D. Purandeswari and Vanathi Srinivasan were among the women whose names were doing the rounds earlier.
The national-level meeting comes two days after B.L. Santhosh and RSS leader Arun Kumar met Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath at his residence on Monday to finalise the BJP state unit president. UP deputy CMs Keshav Prasad Maurya and Brajesh Pathak, current BJP state chief Bhupendra Chaudhary and state general secretary (organisation) Dharampal Singh were also at the meeting. According to Hindustan, among the likely candidates include one each from Brahmin and Dalit communities and three other OBC leaders.
Why next BJP chief could be appointed before December 15?
December 16 marks the start of Kharmas, during which auspicious activities are avoided. Hence, it is likely that the next BJP chief could be named before December 15, according to the Deccan Chronicle.
Earlier, reports claimed that the BJP leadership was waiting for the Bihar elections to conclude before officially naming the new national president. On the other hand, several leaders have suggested that the BJP chief should be appointed ahead of the upcoming assembly elections in Tamil Nadu, Kerala, West Bengal and Assam.