Nadda elected BJP’S chief as top brass rallies for him
NEW DELHI: Jagat Prakash Nadda was on Monday elected unopposed the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president, taking over from Amit Shah after the latter’s fiveand-a-half-year tenure, even as Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the party will scale new heights under the 59-year-old Nadda’s leadership.
A senior BJP leader from Himachal Pradesh, Nadda was picked to lead the party months after it retained power in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. He takes over the reins at a time when the BJP is facing opposition from political rivals over the new citizenship law. Political analysts said consolidating the party’s electoral strategy after recent setbacks in states will be a key task for him.
His election as the 11th president of the BJP was announced by Radha Mohan Singh, who is in charge of the organisational election process. Nadda will have a three-year tenure.
“The BJP may face more difficulty in the future and we must be ready… as per the needs and desires of the nation, moulding the workers and taking India ahead is our target,” Modi said shortly after Nadda’s appointment was announced at the BJP headquarters in the national capital.
The PM and the BJP parliamentary board congratulated the newly elected party president at a ceremony that was also attended by veterans LK Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi.
After his election, Nadda said: “I thank Prime Minister Narendra
Modi for showing faith in me. Today, we are the world’s largest party that is in power in India. We have the highest number of MPS and MLAS in the country. We are not going to stop at this. There are some states left and we will make sure we reach to them as well.”
Nadda’s elevation was expected. He was appointment the BJP working president last June, after Shah joined the Modi government as the Union home minister.