The process to appoint the BJP’s next national chief has gained momentum with sources saying that the party leadership and the RSS are on course to reach a consensus over it soon. The current BJP national president, J P Nadda, has been on an extension since June last year.
As per the BJP’s constitution, the party national president can be elected once the elections of half the state chiefs have been conducted. These elections usually take place with consensus, with only one candidate filing the nomination and getting elected unopposed.
On Tuesday, while several new state party chiefs are set to take over, others will undergo the nomination and election process. The BJP is set to cross the threshold set by its constitution on Tuesday.
V P Ramalingam and K Beichhua were elected BJP presidents of Puducherry and Mizoram respectively on Monday, while single nominations for the post were filed in states like Maharashtra, Uttarakhand, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, making their election a mere formality on Tuesday.
The BJP now has new state presidents, including some who were re-elected, in 16 states, a figure that will rise on Tuesday. Some big states like Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh may also follow suit in the next few days.
Since most of the names doing the rounds for the BJP national chief’s position are Union ministers, there is also expectation in party circles of a Modi ministry reshuffle taking place alongside it, as reported by Vikas Pathak and Jatin Anand. Similarly, there is a possibility that some BJP-ruled states may see Cabinet rejigs.
In Telangana, however, the impending election of former MLC N Ramchander Rao, who was the only one to file a nomination for the president’s post, prompted firebrand BJP MLA T Raja Singh to resign in protest after his own candidacy was rejected, as reported by Nikhila Henry.
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While the BJP sees Rao, a Brahmin leader, as a “unifying factor” amid factionalism in the party, Singh said resignation reflects the “pain and frustration of lakhs of BJP karyakartas and supporters who feel sidelined and unheard”.
Surjewala to meet Cong’s Karnataka MLAs
AICC general secretary in-charge of Karnataka Randeep Singh Surjewala is holding meetings with “disgruntled” Congress leaders amid a power struggle between Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Deputy CM D K Shivakumar.
During his three-day visit to Karnataka, Surjewala plans to interact with all the MLAs and MLCs, district Congress presidents, candidates who were defeated in Assembly and Lok Sabha elections and other leaders to understand their problems, concerns and demands, relating to both governance and politics.
His decision to meet the MLAs and MLCs was immediately seen by various sections of the leadership as an attempt by the party high command to gauge the mind of the MLAs on a possible reshuffle of the Siddaramaiah Cabinet and or even a leadership change.
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Sources in the Congress high command, however, ruled out a change of guard, scotching feverish speculation that Siddaramaiah would make way for Shivakumar as CM later this year. Those in the Shivakumar camp had, for some time, been talking about the possibility of a two-and-a-half year term-sharing formula between the two.
After meeting senior Congress MLA B R Patil, who had recently alleged bribery in the allotment of public housing, on Monday, Surjewala will meet MLA Raju Kage from Kagwad, who had also expressed dissatisfaction, on Tuesday.
The open criticism by both Patil and Kage has put the Congress government in a tight spot, with opposition BJP and JD(S) accusing it of “rampant corruption” and demanding the resignation of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and state Housing Minister Zameer Ahmed Khan.
YSRCP chief’s protection from arrest ends
On Tuesday, the Andhra Pradesh High Court’s protection from arrest for YSRCP chief and former CM Jagan Mohan Reddy is set to end. On June 18, during a YSRCP roadshow, the vehicle carrying Reddy had run over a supporter who later succumbed to his injuries.
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The YSRCP chief had filed a petition in the High Court to quash the FIR against him. The High Court then restrained the police from taking any coercive action against Reddy and adjourned the case for July 1.
President on UP visit
On Monday, President Droupadi Murmu began her two-day visit to Uttar Pradesh. After attending convocation ceremonies of the Indian Veterinary Research Institute at Bareilly and AIIMS Gorakhpur on Monday, the President will inaugurate the Mahayogi Guru Gorakhnath AYUSH University at Gorakhpur.
– With PTI inputs
