Nadda likely to become BJP chief next week as saffron party gears up for organisational polls
NEW DELHI: Moving forward on holding elections for the post of BJP chief, the party has asked the eligible delegates to reach the national capital.
Party leaders stated that working president J P Nadda would most likely be elected as the chief of the outfit unopposed.
“The norms for filing of the nomination are such that there is hardly any possibility of any other candidate putting up a contest,” said a BJP functionary.
The party is aiming to meet the criteria of holding organisational elections in 50 per cent of the states by January 17.
“The party has, as of now, planned to hold the election meetings on January 19-20, with the first day for filing of the nomination papers. The party is aiming to elect its new president on January 20,” said a senior BJP functionary.
Union territories are counted as state units in the BJP, with the party aiming to speed up organisational elections.
“The national council meeting of the BJP is likely to be held in February in which the elected president of the party will be endorsed by larger representatives of the outfit,” added the BJP functionary.
With the BJP being in the midst of contesting a tough electoral battle in Delhi, the election process of the party chief is likely to be a low-key affair.
The central election committee of the BJP is likely to meet on January 16 to finalise the candidates for the Delhi Assembly elections.
Party chief Amit Shah continues to hold marathon meetings on shortlist candidates for the polls, with the thrust on putting up new faces who have been working on the ground for long.
“The CEC will meet on January 16, and the party will begin releasing names soon after to allow them enough time to file nomination papers. The party may hold back names for a few Assembly constituencies for last-minute changes by taking into account candidates of the rival outfits,” said a senior BJP functionary.
The core group of BJP held a marathon meeting on Sunday night at Shah’s residence, which was further extended at the residence of party’s Delhi in-charge Prakash Javadekar. The meeting continued at Shah’s residence on Monday.
“Before the CEC meets on Thursday, the core group will finetune the list of candidates…The party brass has also has gathered ground inputs on the winnability of the candidates,” said the BJP leader.