Taking over the throne, holding reins of party; JP Nadda elected unopposed as National President of BJP

New Delhi, January 20: Taking forward the legacy of good governance, Jagat Prakash Nadda was elected unopposed as the national president of the Bhartiya Janata Party on Monday, taking over the reins of the party from Amit Shah. JP Nadda was appointed as the BJP working president after Amit Shah’s elevation to the Cabinet as Home Minister last year.

 

The BJP had reached a new electoral high under Shah over the last more than five years, expanding its footprints across the country. Nadda took over at a time when the party is facing protests over the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, National Register of Citizens (NRC) and National Population Register (NPR). JP Nadda’s decades-long experience in the organisation, starting from student politics, proximity to the RSS and clean image is seen as his strengths. As party chief, Nadda would be working closely with B L Santosh, general secretary (organisation), also a choice of Shah, who shares the image of an aggressive doer and a disciplinarian — like Shah.

Nadda, party leaders say, is unlikely to take any big decision on his own for some time. A senior BJP leader said, “It will take at least six months to see how Nadda is going to play his cards. One has to wait and see whether he will try to emerge as a different power centre, or will only implement Shah’s decisions in the party. Whatever it is, the party will be under the shadow of Amit Shah.”

Nadda’s career began student politics in the ABVP followed by the BJYM. From 1993 to 2012, he was a Member of the Himachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly (MLA) for three terms. He was also a cabinet minister from 1998 to 2003 – in charge of health and then forest, environment and science minister in the government of Himachal Pradesh from 2008-2010.

In May 2014, Nadda was part of the Modi government and served as the Health Minister. Nadda was in-charge of Uttar Pradesh for the 2019 elections, and the party performed impressively in the state, restricting the much-hyped Mahagathbandhan to 15 seats. In 2017, Nadda lost out to Jairam Thakur to the chief minister’s post in Himachal Pradesh after the BJP wrested back power from Congress in the hill state. In June 2019, he was appointed as the working president of the BJP.

Amit Shah was the BJP president for five-and-a-half years.