New Delhi, Jul 1 (PTI) The BJP on Tuesday elected its presidents in six more states, taking to 22 the number of states where it has picked its organisational heads since the start of the party’s internal polls last year and fulfilling an essential formality to begin the election of its national president.
BJP presidents in Maharashtra, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand were elected unopposed, with the party showing a preference for those with a long stint in the organisation and ticking right social boxes, while having a low profile in public.
Ravindra Chavan, N Ramchander Rao, P V N Madhav, Rajeev Bindal, and Mahendra Bhatt were formally announced as party presidents in these states respectively, a day after they were the only leaders to file nomination papers in line with the central leadership’s emphasis on fostering consensus around its choice.
Anil Tiwari was elected party president in Andaman and Nicobar in a similar manner.
A few more state presidents, including in Madhya Pradesh and West Bengal, will be elected in the coming days.
Seasoned lawmaker Hemant Khandelwal, currently an MLA, was the only one to file his nomination in Madhya Pradesh, making his election a mere formality.
A BJP leader noted that the central leadership has gone for candidates who are not seen as leading any faction and enjoy wider acceptability.
The election of several state chiefs in the last couple of days has fulfilled a key BJP’s constitutional directive for starting the nomination process for picking its national president who will replace the incumbent J P Nadda.
Its constitution requires the election of its presidents in at least 19 out of its 37 organisational states before the process to elect its national president begins.
Nadda, who was elected in January 2020, has been on an extension since his three-year term ended — first due to the 2024 Lok Sabha elections and then because of the ongoing organisational exercise. PTI KR RT RT
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