JP Nadda to lead BJP in 2024 poll

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, January 17

Two-term Rajya Sabha MP and three-term Himachal MLA Jagat Prakash Nadda on Tuesday weathered the recent storm of HP election loss to retain his position as the BJP chief with the party’s national executive unanimously extending his tenure till June 2024 until after the Lok Sabha elections that year.

Rising through the ranks, Nadda, who hails from Himachal, will oversee the 2024 General Election for the party which is eyeing a record third term at the Centre with Narendra Modi as Prime Minister.

The faith the BJP has put in him brings a massive responsibility for the 62-year-old, considering that a 2024 win would mean Modi would be the second Prime Minister after the late Jawaharlal Nehru to lead their party to three consecutive terms in power.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah announced the national executive’s decision to extend the tenure of Nadda, the third sitting BJP chief after LK Advani and Amit Shah to get an extension of tenure.

Elected on January 20, 2020, Nadda’s tenure as per the BJP constitution was to end on January 20 this year.

“Since the BJP membership campaign has not concluded and is underway, the party followed precedent to extend the tenure of JP Nadda till June 2024,” Shah said, showering praises on the BJP president for “successfully converting the charisma of PM Modi into votes”.

Shah listed electoral feats under Nadda, saying the BJP won 73 out of 120 state Assembly byelections during the BJP chief’s tenure; emerged victorious in Assam, UP, Uttarakhand, Manipur and Goa; bagged a record mandate in Gujarat; recorded the highest strike rate in the last Bihar elections; repeated its government in Haryana, expanded in West Bengal Assembly from 3 to 77 seats in just five years and emerged a major player in Telangana.

Shah counted “Mera booth sabse mazboot” and “Vijay Sankalp Sabhas”, organisational programmes piloted by Nadda, as the latter’s top contributions and said the BJP chief had set an example by galvanising party cadres to help the country tide over Covid.

“Under Nadda ji’s leadership and with Narendra Modi as PM, we are confident of winning a bigger mandate in 2024 than that of 2019,” said Shah.

Earlier, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh proposed the resolution extending Nadda’s tenure and the 317-member national executive led by the PM passed it in one voice. Meanwhile, the national executive, commenting on the party’s Himachal loss, said: “The difference of votes is less than 1 pc. The party came very close to victory but could not change the tradition. It however significantly reduced the vote difference from the traditional 5 pc to less than 1 pc.”

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