The Bharatiya Janata Party's decision to pick a new working president has sparked speculations about the succession to the post of party chief.
Nitin Nabin, who became the road construction minister in the recently elected Nitish Kumar government in Bihar, has a strong RSS background. The five-time Bankipur MLA joined electoral politics at the age of 26.
Why Nitin Nabin's succession to party chief's post is delayed?
Other than Nitin Nabin, only JP Nadda has held the post of working president. The post of working president is unofficial and seen as a temporary arrangement. Nadda held the working president's post for six months when Amit Shah was still BJP chief. When Shah took over Union Home Ministry, Nadda became the party president.
Also, the BJP national president has to be elected and cannot be nominated like the post of working president. However, the party would not hold the elections during khar maas, an inauspicious month-long period that begins on December 16 and ends with Makar Sankranti, which falls on January 14.
Nabin took charge as working president in New Delhi on Monday in the presence of Nadda, Shah, Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta. Later, he went to seek the blessings of veteran BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh.
Congratulating Nabin on his new post, Nadda said he is confident that under Prime Minister Narendra Modi's guidance, the working president will provide a new direction to the party's journey of public service and nation-building.
