BJP kickstarts process to elect a new chief with appointment of returning officer for organisational polls

New Delhi: The BJP on Tuesday announced organisational polls to the post of party president, with outgoing president JP Nadda appointing Rajya Sabha MP and OBC Morcha chief K Laxman as the returning officer overseeing the polls.

The appointment also stated that Laxman will be assisted by three co-returning officers including Puri MP Sambit Patra, national vice-president Rekha Verma and Rajya Sabha MP Naresh Bansal. Nadda had been given two key extensions till now.

Sources within the party said that the returning officers will now soon announce officers in-charge of the poll processes in states, who, in turn will announce district poll officers and then they will appoint mandal poll officers.

“After elections in the mandal level, polls will take place in the district and then the state levels. These announcements will be made in quick succession,” a senior party leader said. There is a strong likelihood that the party will have a new president before the end of the year. 

Though several names have been doing the rounds, Laxman himself, a formidable OBC face from the South, was seen as a front-runner to the position.

There was also a sustained buzz within the party that a working president will be appointed, though that did not materialise. When Amit Shah was the outgoing president in 2020, Nadda, now the union health minister, was then appointed the working president and Radha Mohan Das was the returning officer. The party’ constitution allows for a second presidential term to any candidate of a tenure of three years each, party leaders pointed out. 

Earlier this year, a key party leader had said that the long-winding process of the internal organisational polls in the party will technically begin after the state units hold executive meetings. A membership drive was to follow these meetings, and the party had kickstarted the membership drive with Prime Minister Narendra Modi launching it on September 2. After the membership drive ends, a meeting of office bearers will be held and then a National Executive will take place.

This year, though, the party is grappling with low intake in membership numbers. While during Shah’s tenure 18 crore people became members, the party has just about enrolled 9 crore members in a month and a half. 

Sources said that the president will be elected at the National Executive. For the election, state councils of atleast 50% states will have to be elected first. The party’s Constitution states that the president is elected by an electoral college consisting of members of the National Council as well as members of the State Council. Groups of 20 members of a state council can propose the name of any leader, with their consent, who has been a member of the party for 15 years.